Energy renovation, a source of inequality?

On Wednesday, during a symposium in Paris as part of the National Day against energy poverty, the speakers spoke at length about the need to massively renovate housing, to reduce their energy consumption and loosen the constraints weighing on households in particular. modest.

But the need, in most cases, to advance the costs still blocks many families.

The government has understood this and, over the years, has drawn up mechanisms to take this into account.

Thus, MaPrimeRénov ', its flagship aid, is more generous with low-income households, while the richest are almost excluded.

But it is still necessary to advance the costs, and in most construction sites, there remains a remainder to be paid, difficult to assume for modest families.

"When we tell people who live on 5 euros per day and per person that there is a balance of 5, 10 or 20.000 euros sometimes, it's just not possible. Even if there are the three quarters found in terms of financing", detailed Franck Billeau, director of the Eco-Habitat network, an association for assistance with renovation.

"For all those who are in thermal sieves, and especially for those who are in a situation of poverty, therefore those who are in the most difficult situation and above all also those who emit more greenhouse gases, there, it must aim for zero remains dependent", pleaded on France Inter Christophe Robert, general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation.

Zero rate loan

To overcome this difficulty, the Minister Delegate for Housing Olivier Klein announced in mid-November the launch of a zero-rate loan accompanying MaPrimeRénov'.

Capped at 30.000 euros, it aims to better help the most modest, and joins a previous loan, the “renovation advance loan”, which made it possible to repay the sum borrowed at the time of the resale of the property or the estate.

What reduce the rest to charge, but not yet to zero.

"Before even doing a major renovation, you have to incur other costs, for example for an energy audit. These are all costs that a household will have trouble paying", notes Carine Sebi, professor at Grenoble Ecole of Management and specialist in energy renovation.

"Renovating is very complicated, and you can always question the investment in relation to the return on it, because you have lots of parameters that will be taken into account, and the amortization is done sometimes over 20, 30, 40 years,” she adds.

Green value

For the better-off owners, who have the means to undertake a renovation, the return on investment can be faster than expected: the homes with the best energy performance begin to sell for more on the real estate market, while the the most energy-intensive houses lose value, according to a 2021 study of notaries in France. We talk about "green value".

On the contrary, the most modest owners can see their heritage lose value because they cannot carry out work...too expensive for them.

On the tenants' side, on the other hand, the green value is likely to encourage owners to renovate, believes Carine Sebi, due to the gradual ban, from 2023, on renting excessively energy-intensive housing.

Inequalities among tenants are nevertheless somewhat smoothed by social housing.

With 46% of social housing in mainland France classified A, B or C for their energy consumption (on a scale from A to G) in 2021, compared to 25% for the whole of France, social landlords are indeed the best students. of renovation.