Ban on renting thermal strainers relaxed in the Senate

The 2021 Climate and Resilience Act provides for a ban on the rental of housing classified as G on the energy performance diagnostic (EPD) scale from January 1, 2025.

Parliament does not intend to back down on this ambition, but "even so, we must look at real life and take into consideration the concerns of our fellow citizens," argued Housing Minister Valérie Létard, justifying the defense of a bill that is "much anticipated" by some homeowners who are struggling to carry out renovation work.

The text thus aims to "respond urgently to the real risk of seeing many homes leave the rental market, which would have damaging consequences in a sector that is already particularly tense," said its centrist author, Amel Gacquerre.

His bill, adopted by a large vote by a show of hands, actually includes several measures already proposed at the end of January to the National Assembly by MPs Bastien Marchive (affiliated with the Ensemble pour la République group) and Iñaki Echaniz (Socialist Party).

But this text was finally withdrawn from the debate by its authors after the rejection of its main article, to which the National Rally and La France Insoumise were opposed.

Among the main measures are adjustments for the benefit of owners, who could keep their thermal sieves for rent when renovation work has been undertaken or voted on by the co-ownership.

The same relaxation was voted in the event that the work proves impossible "due to technical, architectural or heritage constraints or costs that are clearly disproportionate to the value of the property".

This will also apply when the general meeting of the co-owners opposed this work, a measure which upset a section of the left, who feared seeing owners "hide behind the refusal of the co-ownership association" to avoid undertaking work.

The Senate also clarified that the energy decency obligation would only apply to newly concluded leases or their renewal, and not systematically from January 1, 2025 for current leases.

"Quietly, the Senate has adopted provisions that strip the timetable for the mandatory renovation of thermal sieves of its substance," Damien Barbosa, coordinator of the "Rénovons" collective, said on LinkedIn. He believes that certain provisions "could have serious consequences on the pace of renovation of sieves."

The text is transmitted to the National Assembly, where its outcome once again appears uncertain.

In France, 5,8 million homes were classified F or G as of January 1, 2024, or 15,6% of the rental stock, according to a study by the Ministry of Ecological Transition from December 2024.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.