Rent control is progressing in the regions, but not in Paris, according to the Abbé Pierre Foundation

Rent control "is increasingly proving its effectiveness", rejoice the authors of this study based on the analysis of 23.500 advertisements recorded between August 2023 and August 2024.

Nationally, 28% of advertisements do not comply with rent controls, compared to 30% in 2023 and 32% in 2022.

"This system is progressing in the region, but is stagnating in Paris," they point out, wondering whether the Olympic Games could have "encouraged more landlords to attempt rent increases above the norm."

In the capital, the first city to regulate rents since mid-2019, 30% of housing offered for rent during the period exceeded the rent ceilings, five points less than in 2021 but two points more than last year.

While "trends are rather improving" in other cities, "compliance with the framework is quite uneven", the barometer notes.

Lyon-Villeurbanne now has 29% of non-compliant announcements compared to 36% in 2022, Lille 32% compared to 43% in 2022, Bordeaux 26% compared to 37% in 2023 and Montpellier 14% compared to 37% in 2022.

Conversely, in Seine-Saint-Denis, there is no progress and even a deterioration in the situation.

The Plaine Commune inter-municipal authority now displays 44% of non-compliant announcements compared to 41% in 2023 and 33% in 2022, and Est-Ensemble 25%, as in 2023, compared to 14% in 2022.

Concretely, for tenants, non-compliant monthly rents in Paris exceed the legal ceiling by an average of 251 euros (compared to 237 euros the previous year and 198 euros in 2022), or more than 3.000 euros per year.

Nationally, the excess is less significant, on average at 194 euros per month (compared to 198 euros in 2023), or nearly 2.400 euros per year.

Faced with a "rather positive assessment", the Abbé Pierre foundation is calling for the system to be made permanent and extended to other cities, in addition to Marseille, Grenoble and 24 municipalities in the French Basque Country, including Bayonne and Biarritz, which were recently authorized to apply it.

Made possible on an experimental basis by the ELAN law of 2018, rent control is supposed to end in 2026.

By then, "we hope to have action from the State to enforce the law," Manuel Domergue, the foundation's director of studies, told AFP.

"We need communication campaigns, actions on the ground, to raise awareness, even to threaten a little. And then we also need to change the law, perhaps to have more significant financial sanctions. Fear needs to change sides," he added.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.