Office conversions into housing: 61 projects in the Île-de-France region selected and monitored by the State

These 61 projects represent a total of 8.269 new homes, more than half of which are social housing and 1.000 are intermediate-rent units. More than 3.944 homes will be reserved for students, a "particular need" in the region, emphasized Marc Guillaume, Prefect of Île-de-France and Paris.

"We will not transform the five million square meters of empty offices" in Ile-de-France into housing, "but if we transform a part of it, that's already good," given the current crisis and the lack of available housing, the prefect continued.

The projects, spread across the eight departments of Ile-de-France, were selected as part of a call for expressions of interest (AMI), launched in the spring of 2025 by the former Minister of Housing Valérie Létard and which received 101 applications, above the expectations of the prefect.

The objective is to provide support, and for some projects financial assistance, in the face of the technical, administrative and economic difficulties that hinder the conversion of vacant offices into housing.

For Laurent Bresson, regional and interdepartmental director of accommodation and housing for Ile-de-France (Drihl IDF), this call for expressions of interest will also make it possible to "take advantage of the feedback from these 61 projects" to facilitate other projects.

The projects are not all at the same stage of development. Some already have building permits, others are starting construction, and Prefect Marc Guillaume hopes to see "the first residents in the homes in two years."

In addition, eight communities in Hauts-de-Seine and Seine-Saint-Denis will be supported to "do a mapping of the mutable assets" in their territories, explained the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine Alexandre Brugère.

In the Hauts-de-Seine department, characterized by an "overproduction of commercial real estate", it was "necessary to create a spark among local elected officials" and "help them to define a sustainable transformation strategy", according to Mr. Brugère.

According to the latest figures from the Immostat group, 6,3 million m2 of office space were empty at the end of March in Ile-de-France, a figure that has been steadily increasing since 2020. This represents a vacancy rate of 10,3%.