The housing bill will be presented to the Council of Ministers on June 24th.

"Because the housing crisis has become a real social time bomb, we have made the choice with the government to act quickly and decisively, without waiting for the next presidential election," Vincent Jeanbrun told AFP.

Despite this progress, several parliamentary sources believe that a first reading of the text before September seems unlikely given the currently busy legislative calendar.

The minister emphasizes that this bill "will have a comprehensive ambition to build more, renovate faster, simplify procedures, decentralize by giving more power back to local elected officials and accelerate the transformation of our neighborhoods".

After receiving approval from the National Housing Council (CNH) on May 21, the text also received a favorable opinion from the National Council of Cities on Thursday. According to sources close to the minister, this opinion was adopted "unanimously."

For Vincent Jeanbrun, this support constitutes "a new sign of confidence from field actors in the ambition to respond to the housing emergency and to repair the relegated or forgotten territories".

The first article of the bill notably provides for the launch of a "third generation" of urban renewal program covering the period 2030-2040.

"With this new urban renewal program, we will sustainably transform neighborhoods, strengthen their attractiveness, their safety, their quality of life and recreate opportunities for millions of French people," he added.

Among the other provisions in the text, the government aims to allow the re-letting of properties classified as energy inefficient. This possibility would be conditional upon the owner committing to carry out work to improve the energy performance of the property within three years for detached houses and five years for apartments in co-owned buildings.

According to Vincent Jeanbrun, this measure could help to maintain or reintroduce between 650.000 and 700.000 homes on the rental market by 2028.