To build or not to build: the electoral paradox of mayors

A mayor who focuses on construction, as the saying goes, often becomes a mayor defeated in the next municipal election, shunned by voters resentful of the arrival of new neighbors. But in the midst of a crisis in new construction, housing difficulties are pushing mayors to take action on housing issues.

The maxim comes from Pierre Billotte, who was defeated in the 1977 race for mayor of Créteil. Since then, it has haunted elected officials who fear stirring up opposition or changing their population, and their votes, by granting too many building permits.

Despite a crisis across all regions, acceptance of a new housing project is never a given. This is even less true for social housing, given that 2,9 million households are on the waiting list.

In Gurs, a village of 430 inhabitants at the foot of the Pyrenees, a social rental housing project "is sowing discord", according to Christian Puharré, mayor of the village where the RN reached 48% in the last legislative elections.

Eight appeals have been filed by local residents "who suspect that this population of low-income families could cause problems," explains the mayor, denouncing "racist and xenophobic stereotypes" invoked by the opponents.

Faced with the outcry over the project, which has divided residents, four members of the municipal team have decided not to run for re-election. The mayor had announced his intention to serve only one term.

The same is true in Biarritz, where appeals against real estate projects are "almost systematic", whether it concerns social housing or "even collective housing in general", says Mayor (LR) Maider Arosteguy.

According to the Federation of Real Estate Developers, 15% to 20% of building permits have been challenged in recent years.

"Everyone wants housing, but not next to their home," laments the Basque mayor, who believes that appeals are delaying projects that have already been approved.

"We need much more in-depth consultation, with the developer, and with the neighborhood to see how to negotiate the acceptability of a project," Thierry Repentin, co-president of the Housing Commission of the Association of Mayors of France, told AFP.

"Mayors without cranes, defeated mayors"

But does new construction have a real impact on the re-election of a mayor? It depends, says a study by Pierre-Henri Bono and Martial Foucault, researchers at Cevipof.

While they detect a tenuous link between housing creation and a decrease in the probability of re-election in large cities, the opposite is true in small towns. As for medium-sized cities, "it's a question of finding the right balance."

"We need to put an end to the expression 'mayor who builds, mayor who loses,'" grumbles Catherine Sabbah, general delegate of the Idheal research institute. Re-election "depends on a whole host of other variables, the mayor's age, the number of opposing lists, and everything else about their record..." she reminds AFP.

This year, given the scale of the crisis, it would be more like "mayors without cranes, defeated mayors", according to real estate professionals.

"I hear mayors saying: 'We have to go ahead (with construction, editor's note) and quickly,'" declared Véronique Bédague, CEO of the developer Nexity, in mid-January. "There's a sense that inaction is no longer an option."

Usually, there is a decrease in the number of building permits granted in the year surrounding a municipal election. But not this time.

Housing construction levels were already at their lowest point after more than two years of crisis in the sector. Building permits granted increased by 15% in 2025, with a relatively stable trend during the last months of the year.

Housing is an important issue for "65% of mayors" and this figure rises to 100% in cities with more than 10.000 inhabitants, according to a survey of 1.028 mayors of municipalities with fewer than 50.000 inhabitants, conducted by Idheal and Cyrille Poy, a housing consultant.

A majority of mayors (61%) "consider the production of new housing as a priority objective", but "just as many (62%) say they are powerless to implement a policy that would allow them to build or renovate," according to the survey.

"The act of building is much more difficult than it was a few years ago," notes Thierry Repentin, head of the Chambéry town hall, because of "the State's abandonment of the housing issue" and the "uncertainties that weigh on the tools of housing production."

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.