Rent control could be extended for two years

Rent control, the experiment of which is supposed to end in November 2026, could be temporarily extended for two years, via an amended socialist text supported by the government.

Socialist MP Iñaki Echaniz told AFP on Tuesday that the government planned to put its bill, which initially aimed to make rent control permanent and improve it, on the Senate's agenda for the fall session.

Personally opposed to rent control, the Minister for Cities and Housing, Vincent Jeanbrun, stated in an interview with Le Monde published Tuesday evening that he was "considering extending the experiments already underway, without adding new municipalities," as he had already expressed in early June.

His entourage confirms that the socialist text is an appropriate way forward for this temporary extension, given that the subject cannot be included in the Housing Recovery bill, which Vincent Jeanbrun will present on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers.

The socialist text would be amended to guarantee "at least a two-year extension of the scheme for municipalities that have already implemented it", explains Iñaki Echaniz, who would nevertheless like to take the opportunity to improve it and allow municipalities that have already begun the process of entering the scheme to benefit from it.

The MP for Pyrénées-Atlantiques is pleased to avoid "a sudden exit in November" which risked causing rents to rise sharply in some 70 municipalities where rent control is currently applied.

"While its removal would have constituted a real social injustice, in a context where the most modest households devote more than 30% of their budget to housing, this decision represents a victory for all those whom we must protect from real estate speculation," reacted the Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, on X.

Vincent Jeanbrun is postponing the question of the future of the system: "This subject, which is very political, must be decided by the presidential election."

A report by two economists commissioned by the government observed "ambivalent effects" of rent control, which has reduced rents by an average of 2% to 4% in the cities where it is most difficult to find housing, but which does not target the most disadvantaged categories.

The measure could eventually have an effect on the rental supply, according to the report, which however fails to identify a cause-and-effect relationship.

A study by the Parisian Urban Planning Workshop (Apur) published in April estimates the average savings made by a Parisian tenant at 1.019 euros between July 2024 and June 2025 thanks to the framework.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.