Housing crisis: nearly 700 municipalities reclassified as tense areas

The decree, dated July 5, concretizes a commitment made in March by the Ministers of the Economy Bruno Le Maire and of Housing Guillaume Kasbarian.

A total of 865 municipalities are seeing their zoning evolve, according to the Ministry of Housing, which is pleased to "facilitate(r) the construction of housing and access to property for nearly 3 million residents".

Households purchasing new housing in a municipality classified as a “tense zone” (Abis, A or B1 zone) can benefit from the zero-interest loan.

The production of intermediate housing, with regulated rents but higher than social housing, is also favored by tax incentives.

Since Emmanuel Macron came to power, the executive has strongly pushed for intermediate rental housing (LLI), intended primarily for the middle classes and private sector employees who have difficulty finding accommodation in large cities but earn too much to benefit from social housing.

The government wants to double the rate of production to bring it to 30.000 new LLIs per year by 2026.

A first change in tension zoning took place in October 2023, which led to the reclassification of 200 municipalities.

“The regional and departmental prefects will continue their discussions with local elected officials and the stakeholders concerned in order, if necessary, to adjust the list marginally by issuing a new decree,” specifies the ministry.