Greater Paris Business Barometer: Coordinated action is necessary to revive the construction sector

Indeed, excluding large projects and site slippage, the lack of prospects is glaring, especially for very small businesses and SMEs. Around the Paris Ile-de-France CCI, professionals in the sector express three wishes to bounce back and build the city of tomorrow.

Relaunch public procurement

Everything is in place so that construction can restart. Professionals in the sector have been able to adapt and organize themselves to resume work as quickly as possible despite the constraints imposed. Grand Paris projects are not an end, they reveal development opportunities. The new transport offer is approaching and is triggering a new reflection on urban strategy.

Yet in 2020, housing starts fell 17%. For non-residential buildings, the decline reached 30%. Regarding daily public works, excluding major projects, the decline is 20%.

Today, professionals agree that it is time to launch the markets, release the projects and guarantee the supply of the sites by accelerating the authorizations for the exploitation of quarries and the acceptance of excavated material. Construction and renovation programs are necessary for the development of the territory and must be started now to make a lasting contribution to the growth of local businesses.

Respond to the strong demand for housing

Housing production has slowed down: in recent months, authorizations have been lower than starts in Ile-de-France. Even the social housing segment does not play its usual role of shock absorber: only 21 financial authorizations were issued in 300 (-2020%). On the developer side, new home listings fell by 30% (45 compared to 15 in 300). To remedy this, the effort of the France Relance plan in terms of thermal renovation and recycling of land is commendable but it is not enough. And yet the crisis has reinforced the aspirations of Ile-de-France residents towards better living. We must therefore quickly respond to these new and sustainable construction expectations.

Moreover, several levers exist: really accelerate the processing of town planning authorizations (-25% in 2020, one quarter of issue less), mobilize public land (nearly 150 ha marked in Île-de-France), develop the intermediate segment (nearly 7 intermediate rental housing units were approved in 000 and the target is 2019 by 100) and transform vacant offices into housing (by increasing the buildability bonus). Institutional investors are returning to the residential sector, so all that remains is to act.

Choose the right tempo to move forward

Despite the lack of medium-term visibility and the stagnation, if not the fall, of the prices of the works contracts, the companies maintain their workforce and meet their high learning objectives. As such, the FFB is renewing its “15 builders” operation and the FRTP IDF is working to promote the attractiveness of professions with its #DirectionTravauxPublics operation, which promotes professions and training in the sector.

To stay the course, the repayment of the EMP, which can be deferred for an additional year or more, is good news. But in these uncertain times, now is not the right time to add float. Environmental regulations (RE 2020) will disrupt the construction industry in the choice of materials and equipment. The professionals of the sector ask to play the card of the complementarity of the different construction methods. In addition, we must focus on the recycling and recovery of site waste in short circuits and demonstration structures.

Crisis, extended electoral period, instability, for more than a year the activity has been curtailed. However, the needs of residents and employees are pressing. We must speed up public procurement and authorizations for housing and public facilities. Professionals call for the challenge of urban ecological transition to be taken up together, and in a coordinated manner, to build a more resilient city. “Economic development and ecological transition are compatible, let's choose the right tempo” insists Didier Kling, president of the Paris Ile-de-France CCI.