MaPrimeRénov': serious technical malfunctions and hundreds of complaints according to the Defender of Rights

Set up in 2020 and led by the National Housing Agency (Anah), MaPrimeRénov' aims to help low-income French people renovate their homes to reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

In its 2023 draft budget, the government has planned to increase the envelope devoted to this flagship aid to 2,5 billion euros.

But the steps to obtain it are punctuated by "serious recurring technical malfunctions", underlines the independent authority headed by Claire Hédon, which indicates that it has received nearly 500 complaints in two years.

The major problem, she underlines, comes from the computer portal where users must imperatively create an account to carry out their procedures.

"Hours against a wall"

The obligation to go through the internet creates a "break in equality before the public service", warns the independent authority.

And even for users comfortable with computers, the site presents recurring malfunctions. Sometimes with consequences in the payment of aid, which can plunge applicants into precariousness.

This is the case of Pauline Blanckaert. This accountant submitted a request for aid last December for renovation work for an amount close to 50.000 euros for a house she has just acquired in the Oise.

But when she asked, in September, for payment of the aid of 7.450 euros promised by Anah, she was notified that she was no longer entitled to anything, in particular on the grounds of a "change of zone geographical".

"I'm lost, I'm fed up," she told AFP. "It puts us in difficulty, in precariousness, and morally, it's complicated".

Mélanie Fleurier, who had committed 15.000 euros in September 2020 to install a heat pump at her home, in the Var, was to be entitled to aid of 4.000 euros. She received nothing for a year and a half, until obtaining, in May 2022, a payment of … 355 euros.

“The difference is huge,” exclaims this childcare assistant. She recounts having telephoned "an incalculable number of times" to Anah to obtain a review of her file, without success. "It's hours facing a wall".

Her appeal to the Anah remained unanswered, she resolved to take legal action.

Impotence

The difficulty in modifying elements of a file already submitted, the helplessness felt on the phone with the advisers, the delays in paying the bonus are recurring testimonies collected by AFP.

The Defender of Rights points to the "extremely long processing times". Some households who were unable to create an account and were unable to compile their file before starting their work also saw their request refused on the grounds... that it had been made too late.

"Refusing the bonus to these applicants amounts to Anah sanctioning them for its own shortcomings", considers the Defender of Rights who is asking for the establishment of a channel that does not go through the online portal.

She demands accounts from him within three months.

Contacted by AFP, Anah "takes note" of the recommendations while ensuring that a "vast majority of cases go smoothly". According to the agency, the device has met with "great success" with more than 1,25 million beneficiaries.

It also ensures that the average time for examining complete files is "15 working days".

The Minister Delegate for Housing Olivier Klein also considered "very marginal" the number of outstanding files.

"MaPrimRénov represents great progress for citizens", added the minister, stressing that previously, "more than a year" could pass between the completion of the work and the payment of the tax credit for the energy transition. (CITE), name of the previous aid device.

"In 2021, the 2,1 billion euros of MaPrimRénov's budget benefited 80% to modest and very modest households", continues Olivier Klein.