The battle for permanent housing, a key issue in the municipal elections in tourist areas

The phenomenon is worrying some town halls, such as that of Lauris, in the Vaucluse. Gérard Larrive, a municipal councillor, feels a "suffocation" created by the rehabilitation of vacant housing for seasonal rentals, he explained during a conference at the Congress of Mayors, which is being held until Thursday in Paris.

In Lège-Cap-Ferret, "young people can no longer stay, working people go to live 30 or 40 km from the town, a school class closes every year and real estate agencies have replaced butcher shops", says Jean-Paul Lebas, a resident of this town in Gironde and a member of the National Collective of Permanent Residents (CNHP).

He blames "unbridled real estate speculation" on housing dedicated to seasonal rentals and on secondary residences, and the inaction of the municipality, "unlike other coastal municipalities which have taken measures to try to curb it".

According to the collective, around ten municipalities have taken advantage of a new tool that allows them to prohibit the construction of new secondary residences in certain areas, established by the Echaniz-Le Meur law of November 2024, which also aims to regulate furnished tourist rentals.

Among them are Bayonne, Biarritz, Bonifacio, Cancale, Chamonix, and most recently Saint-Malo, which notes in its local urban development plan, adopted in early November, that "its tourist appeal is the source of numerous advantages, particularly economic ones, but also impacts the population's capacity to accommodate residents." Saint-Malo had 27% second homes in 2022, according to INSEE (the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies).

Prior to this, the town hall had already taken measures to regulate furnished tourist rentals in its territory, with quotas of rentals authorized in the old town within the walls, and per natural person.

"Hemorrhage of second homes"

In preserving permanent housing, Paris would "probably be the best student", according to Jean-Paul Lebas of the CNHP, who launched an evaluation of the policies of some city halls in this area.

"We are winning the battle" against illegal furnished tourist rentals, but there remains the battle of "the hemorrhage of secondary residences and vacant housing", notes Jacques Baudrier, PCF deputy in charge of housing at the Paris town hall, who hopes to be able to raise the taxes imposed on these dwellings.

Town halls located in areas with high housing demand can apply a tax on vacant housing and increase the tax on second homes by 5% to 60%.

This surcharge is increasingly irritating second-home owners, who are forming groups all over the country. Some are even organizing to register to vote in their holiday towns, or even to create a list of candidates and run in the election, as in Argelès-sur-Mer.

There is also grumbling from professionals in the tourist rental sector. "Some municipalities have seized the tools (for regulating furnished tourist accommodation, editor's note) in an ideological approach and today it is being instrumentalized in the municipal campaign," in "an electoral logic," criticizes Frederick Seidita Aires, vice-president of the union of furnished rental professionals.

He defends the positive economic impacts of his sector and the search for a "balance" between fighting the housing crisis and tourist attractiveness.

A "balance" that the CNHP says it is also seeking. "It is not about attacking tourism, but about ensuring that the municipalities can live year-round," argues Jean-Paul Lebas.

Proof of the stakes at the municipal level: Airbnb's presence for the past three years at the Mayors' Show, with a stand resembling a holiday apartment showcasing the platform's tools to attract elected officials.

The issue of housing in tourist areas is "very specific," however, says Véronique Pouzadoux, co-chair of the urban planning commission of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), who doubts that concern for second homes constitutes a complete political program during the municipal elections.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.