MaPrimeRénov': back to square one

For five years, the International Day Against Energy Poverty has been raising awareness of a social and environmental phenomenon that still affects millions of French people. But while energy renovation is one of the main levers in the fight against this scourge, the government's inconsistency, which is detrimental to the most vulnerable households, is being undermined by its about-faces on financial aid.

Indeed, just hours before leaving Matignon, former Prime Minister François Bayrou passed decrees at the last minute that dealt a massive blow to energy renovation.

In 2024, the organizations behind the Day had high hopes for the reform that increased MaPrimeRénov' aid. Specifically, before the reform, a very low-income household living in a thermally strainer home could receive a maximum of €20.000 in public aid. Thanks to the reform, this could reach up to €63.000, making it possible to move towards a zero out-of-pocket cost, an essential condition for a lasting escape from energy poverty.

But that was without taking into account the government's "1 step forward, 3 steps back" strategy. Barely had the reform been launched, the MaPrimeRénov' budget was cut by €1 billion. By mid-2025, with the energy renovation funds, unsurprisingly, almost empty, the government suspended aid for comprehensive renovations for three months, then reopened them at the end of September, halving their amount and limiting application submissions to a few tens of thousands of the most energy-intensive homes. Another development was the exclusion of wall insulation and the installation of biomass boilers from the list of work eligible for "MaPrimeRénov' par geste."

There are no savings to be made in the fight against energy poverty, whose social and ecological benefits are widely recognized. This is why, on the occasion of the next edition of the Day Against Energy Poverty, to be held on November 18, its organizing associations are calling on the government to return to the initial ambitions of the MaPrimeRénov' reform, which prioritizes comprehensive renovations and low-income households, with a sincere budget of €4 billion.

The full program of events, which will be expanded by November, is available to discover. here.