Government announces emergency plan to address historic housing crisis

Faced with the historic housing crisis facing our country and in an extremely tight budgetary context, the Government is taking its responsibilities. At a time when many people are struggling to find housing, when the rental market is drying up, and when housing production is stalling, we must act quickly and decisively, mobilizing all available levers.

The Minister of Urban Affairs and Housing, Vincent Jeanbrun, welcomes the tabling of an amendment to the 2026 Finance Bill, proposing a new incentive scheme for individual landlords, designed to boost rental investment for the benefit of our fellow citizens.

This new system, inspired by the proposals in the report by MP Mickaël COSSON and Senator Marc-Philippe DAUBRESSE, follows the work undertaken by Valérie LÉTARD. It is a win-win situation for everyone:

For individuals, who will be encouraged to invest in new or renovated old properties, with attractive, predictable and clear conditions;
For tenants, who will benefit from an enhanced rental offer, made up of properties meeting energy performance requirements throughout the territory;
For employment and the economy, because building, renovating, renting means creating local jobs all over France — in crafts, construction and service activities;
For the environment, because this system encourages work on older properties.

This amendment, the only one presented by the Government to the National Assembly, constitutes a common basis for discussion to address this major issue for the French people. It is a starting point submitted to the National Assembly, as the Prime Minister has reiterated: the Government proposes and the parliamentarians vote.

The system thus introduces a depreciation mechanism for all housing acquired from 1 January 2026 and rented unfurnished for at least nine years.

To ensure that it benefits the middle classes the most and that the tax advantage created is not unreasonable, the system is subject to a ceiling on depreciation capacity.

This system is accompanied by a doubling of the tax benefit associated with energy renovation work in old buildings, in order to provide a tax incentive for landlords to invest and renovate existing properties.

This first lever has one ambition: to strengthen the profitability of rental investment and simplify existing rules.

Other actions are essential to bring the French back to rental investment.

This is why the Government is committed to a broader strategy, which will be presented to stakeholders and parliamentarians involved in housing in the coming weeks by the Minister of Urban Affairs and Housing. It will take the form of an emergency housing plan, aimed in particular at restoring confidence and revitalizing the housing stock.

Other concrete measures include the operational implementation of the bill to simplify urban planning and housing law, put forward by MP Harold HUWART, and the clarification of the energy renovation obligations for housing via the bill by Senator Amel GACQUERRE.

New proposals will also be put forward to combat unpaid rent and squatting, and to facilitate household access to mortgage loans.

This emergency housing plan will aim to:

Boosting the supply of housing wherever the need is greatest;
Accelerate the renovation of old buildings, particularly in rural areas and priority urban policy districts (QPV);
Simplify procedures, streamline residential pathways and restore a fair balance between landlords and tenants.

Determined and mobilized, alongside parliamentarians, local elected officials, housing stakeholders and the voluntary sector, the Government assures that it is fully committed to meeting the expectations of the French people in terms of access to housing.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.