The building trade is mired in a structural crisis amid general indifference

Despite their relevance, feasibility, and strong added value in accelerating renovations while preserving the local economic fabric, few of them have received the attention they deserved given the current situation. Faced with this damning observation, building tradespeople are denouncing the lack of assistance being provided to their sector, despite the many solutions available to the Government. They are calling on the Government to no longer turn a blind eye to the extremely damaging consequences for society of the difficulties they are facing.

The latest economic figures published by CAPEB confirm this alarming situation.

The sector's activity volume fell by -5% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024, a decline that continues a negative trend that has persisted for over a year. This deterioration affects all market segments. The drop in new construction, while still marked, is easing (-10%). However, it is widening in maintenance-improvement (-2%) and energy performance work (-1,5%), which is a paradox that is all the more pronounced given that building renovation activity should be at the heart of the national low-carbon strategy. This deterioration clearly reflects a profound decline fueled by a lack of strategic vision on the part of public authorities.

The government is persisting in a narrow policy of exclusive support for new buildings

The government's current policy once again prioritizes new construction, seemingly ignoring market realities. According to ADEME, the annual housing requirement is between 120.000 and 350.000 units per year. However, cumulatively over 12 months, there will be nearly 300 housing units under construction in February 000. Making new construction the priority in housing policy when the supply of new housing is currently sufficient therefore reflects an erroneous analysis of needs.

Renovation: untapped potential due to lack of proactive policy

While the massification of energy renovation and adaptation work for aging is a sine qua non for achieving climate and societal objectives, the State remains deaf to the warning signals. Worse, the decisions taken within the framework of the 2025 Finance Bill (increase in the reduced VAT rate on certain equipment, reduction of apprenticeship aid, increase of certain social charges) run counter to the stated ambitions and have a direct impact on household confidence, which continues to erode.

Even though household savings rates remain historically high (18,4%), their confidence in the future and their willingness to invest in their homes are eroding. This gap between available financial resources and the willingness to undertake renovations is a telling symptom: the climate of trust has been shattered. Households are hesitating and putting the brakes on their projects, in a context where rules are constantly evolving, where aid is suspended or poorly calibrated, and where tax incentives lack clarity.

The bill to combat public aid fraud, which was passed by the Senate, will have the effect of further undermining household confidence by perpetuating a system that allows commercial companies and other intermediaries to continue to abuse aid schemes.

And yet, concrete, operational solutions, without budgetary impact, have been put forward by the CAPEB, including:

• Simplified access to the RGE through Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE): a tool for promoting existing skills based on site audits, simple to implement, allowing the intervention capacities of craftsmen to be quickly strengthened.
• The simplification of the Temporary Business Group (GME): a flexible structure adapted to the craft industry, allowing several small businesses to collectively respond to global renovation markets, without diluting their autonomy or unnecessary administrative complexity.

To date, they have not been accepted by the Government.

The CAPEB solemnly calls:

• to a shock of readability and confidence in policies supporting energy renovation;
• to the immediate adoption of its structuring proposals (VAE and GME);
• to a coherent, sustainable budgetary commitment, anchored in the economic realities of small craft businesses.
• to a Grenelle housing forum that would integrate both new construction and energy renovation to sustainably resolve the housing crisis by building a housing policy based on existing buildings, as recommended by ADEME.

This decline must end. It is clear that the impacts extend far beyond the construction sector. This system supports neither the entire sector nor households in need. It widens inequalities and hinders a genuine transition towards more responsible and sustainable housing for all.

For Jean-Christophe Repon, president of CAPEB: "The figures for the first quarter of 2025 confirm what we feared and have been warning about for two years now. Our sector is sinking into a structural crisis. This observation is all the more unacceptable given that we have acted responsibly by formulating numerous concrete proposals with no budgetary impact for the State. None of them have resonated with the Government. Today, we denounce the lack of assistance our sector has received. This indifference towards companies at the heart of local economic dynamism, and of environmental and societal transitions, is culpable."

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.