Social housing: Senators reduce rent reductions imposed on landlords by 400 million euros

This amendment increases the RLS (Revenu de Solidarité sur les Services) to €900 million in the 2026 draft budget law, compared to the initially planned €1,3 billion. The government had submitted an amendment to reduce the levy by €200 million.

Senators believe this measure will give landlords a boost, following the adoption of a 200 million euro increase in their contribution to the National Housing Assistance Fund (Fnap), which finances social housing.

"The increase in the solidarity rent reduction (...) would significantly reduce the investment capacity of social landlords and thus the production of housing at a time when we are experiencing an unprecedented housing shortage," recalled centrist senator Amel Gacquerre.

"This RLS system has nevertheless siphoned off nearly eight billion euros from social housing since its introduction," recalled Green Party Senator Yannick Jadot, who wanted to abolish it completely.

"This is good news because it puts the burden on social landlords back to the same level as last year, but it does not create additional resources to produce social housing," reacted Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the Social Union for Housing (USH), which represents social landlords, to AFP.

The reduction in the RLS coupled with the reduction in the Livret A rate has already made it possible to increase the production of social housing from 85.300 to more than 100.000 between 2024 and 2025.

The Senate, dominated by the right, also approved a controversial budget measure: the freezing of increases in the housing assistance scale (APL), as well as their elimination for non-EU students not receiving scholarships, which is expected to generate around one hundred million euros in 2026.

The right also proposed reducing the funding for the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) with a view to its "phasing out", but it was met with a refusal from its centrist allies, who voted against it alongside the left.

A formal vote is scheduled for December 15 in the Senate on this state budget, before the government convenes a joint committee (CMP) bringing together members of parliament and senators tasked with agreeing on a compromise text.

According to the initial text of the draft finance bill, the credits allocated to the "territorial cohesion" mission examined on Friday, which includes housing assistance, energy renovation, emergency accommodation and urban policy, amount to 22,2 billion euros for 2026 compared to 23,8 in 2025.