In Paris, a fifth of housing is not or little used, according to a study

Around one in five Parisian homes is vacant, used occasionally or as a second home, according to a study by the Parisian Urban Planning Agency (Apur) released Tuesday, December 5 and on which the town hall is basing itself to request legislative change, in the midst of the crisis. housing.

These 262.000 "unoccupied" housing units, or nearly 19% of the Parisian housing stock, are all those "which do not constitute the main residence of a household", explains Apur which draws this definition and these data from the INSEE census .

This study, presented Tuesday by Apur and the town hall, shows "a very sharp increase in the number of unoccupied housing", of around 4,7%, over the last decade.

And if this total of 262.000 unused or little-used housing dates back to 2020, the housing assistant (PCF) Jacques Baudrier anticipates a further increase to 280.000 for 2023, because “we already have the readings for 2021 and 2022”.

In detail, 128.000 Parisian housing units were vacant, and 134.000 used occasionally (work) or as a second home (leisure).

This makes the capital the second French city with the highest share of “unoccupied” housing, behind Nice (28%). Followed by Grenoble (17%) and Nancy (16%), again according to Apur.

At the other end of the ranking is Toulon (6%), behind Nantes and Rennes (10%).

A look at the Parisian map shows a very strong disparity between districts, with a huge proportion of unused or little used housing for those in the center, in particular the 36th (34%), the 30th (XNUMX%), the XNUMXth. and Paris Center (XNUMX%).

72% of them are small accommodations, with one or two rooms, which corresponds to properties “put for furnished tourist rental”, underlines Apur.

Recalling that the rental of a second home or vacant accommodation is "not legal", Apur considers that the recent increase in the number of "unoccupied" accommodation is "partly linked to the increase in furnished tourist rentals not declared.

Around 25.000 homes “would be diverted from their use to be rented on platforms”, estimates the general director of Apur, Alexandre Labasse.

With a negative balance of 35.000 main residences over the period 2011-2020, "there are entire neighborhoods which have been partly emptied", warns the first deputy (PS) Emmanuel Grégoire for whom this situation creates numerous "effects edge", in particular "urban sprawl and additional travel", and "weakens the economic attractiveness" of Paris in the very long term.

At the end of November, deputies gave their approval in committee to a transpartisan bill which attacks, in the face of the housing shortage, the "tax niche" of furnished tourist accommodation such as Airbnb.

The text could be the subject of a vote in the hemicycle during the night from Wednesday to Thursday.

The most debated measure concerns the reduction in the tax reduction rate on income from furnished tourist accommodation to 30%, except in "very sparsely populated rural areas" where an additional rate of 41% (71% in total) could be applied.

“Our goal is not to tax” owners “but to encourage them to rent their homes,” emphasizes Jacques Baudrier.