Legislative 2024: what co-owners expect in terms of energy renovation

Particularly struggling on the subject, the 45% of French people living in collective housing are faced with complex and tedious procedures to initiate work. However, in a context of increasing energy prices and rising co-ownership charges, the majority of them are in favor of renovating their building.

What are co-owners waiting for to take action? This is the question asked by the OpinionWay institute for the specialist in financing energy renovation work PrimesEnergie.fr, to a representative panel of apartment owners.

Put an end to the chronic instability of aid and revalorize monogestures

Being able to undertake work gradually, rather than betting everything on global renovations that are difficult to vote on, finance, and carry out. This is the main wish expressed by 79% of French co-owners, of whom 75% also wish to benefit from financial support when they individually undertake energy saving work within their home.

Once excluded from aid mechanisms, simple work (known as “monogestic”) has been eligible again since May 15 and this… until December 31.

Pointed out by the profession as one of the main causes of the difficulties encountered by the sector in recent months, the delays around energy renovation aid – whether it concerns the types of eligible work or the households concerned – is also a problem for co-owners. Nearly 8 out of 10 (78%) are calling for a law to be passed guaranteeing the stability of aid for financing work over several years. And 74% of them want these to be conditional on the actual performance of the work carried out, in order to reduce the fraud which has plagued the sector.

Drastically lower the price of energy…

After a substantial increase in electricity prices in recent months, the Energy Regulatory Commission announced at the beginning of June that gas prices will increase by almost 12% from this month of July. A situation that weighs heavily on household wallets. It is therefore logical that 3/4 of co-owners are calling for a drastic reduction in energy prices which they consider too expensive. A request which also echoes promises made by several political parties as part of the campaign for the legislative elections.

…and push back the ban on rental of thermal strainers

In order to accelerate the pace of housing renovations, the law provides for the gradual ban on thermal strainers, from 2025. Although this measure was decided several years ago, the approach of the deadline is worrying: more '1 in two co-owners (54%) want it to be postponed.

However, are they against renovating their homes? Far from there. 70% of them say they are in favor of evaluating the energy performance of individual housing, and 52% would agree that energy renovation should become compulsory. A very significant proportion (44%) would also agree to pay more for their work if they had the guarantee that it was carried out well, with 49% also considering that aid should be reserved for low-income households. At the same time, 60% of respondents indicate that they want co-owners who have the means but who slow down the vote on energy renovation work to be sanctioned.

For Nicolas Moulin, founder of PrimesEnergie.fr and specialist in energy renovation of homes: “Beyond any political divide, this study is rich in lessons and demonstrates the urgency of implementing a truly global policy around housing and in particular in terms of energy renovation. One of the priorities seems to be the need to set a course and stick to it over the long term. We must simplify the journey for individuals, who get lost in the changing maquis of government orientations, and guarantee them lasting clarity to put an end to the counterproductive effects of stop and go. The other major issue that will need to be tackled is that of fraud, which benefits either from windfall effects linked to the amounts of aid available, or from the multitude of interlocutors intervening within the framework of a project. »