More money and stability for housing renovations, senators demand

The text, concluding a commission of inquiry which in six months heard 174 people, was presented on Wednesday by its rapporteur, Guillaume Gontard (EELV).

The parliamentarians made 23 proposals to accelerate the energy renovation of buildings, which with their use represent 48% of France's energy consumption and 28% of its greenhouse gas emissions.

The country is very far from the rate of renovations that would make it possible to achieve the objective of its National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC), note the senators, since 50 to 100.000 renovations are carried out each year against a target of 370.000 before 2030 and 700.000 beyond.

The aim is to achieve, by 2050, the Low-Carbon Building (BBC) standard for the entire portfolio, i.e. roughly the equivalent of energy labels A and B, which currently represent some 5% of the built.

"Political Consensus"

Noting a "political consensus" on this issue, the parliamentarians recommend a significant increase in state spending on renovation, without giving an overall figure.

Proposals that contrast with the government's stated intentions to save money on housing, a month after announcements within the framework of the National Refoundation Council which unanimously disappointed.

"Of course, it has a cost if we really want to achieve objectives", justified the president of the commission, Dominique Estrosi-Sassone (LR), stressing that these expenses could create jobs, and that some measures, in particular to fight against fraud, could also report.

The next finance law, and the multiannual energy programming law, will be an opportunity to integrate certain provisions, said Dominique Estrosi-Sassone, the senators not excluding either to push legislative proposals.

"We are going to look in detail at the proposals to feed the work in progress (...) in particular with a view to the PLF debates (finance bill, editor's note) and the climate energy programming bill", communicated to the AFP the ministry delegated to the City and housing, ensuring to share the orientations put forward by the upper house.

Means and stability

On the merits, the senators are asking in particular to increase the means of MaPrimeRénov', the keystone of aid for renovation, to 4,6 billion, against 2,5 billion committed for 2023. They also want to beef up loans (eco -PTZ, advance renovation loan), especially for low-income households.

To better renovate social housing, they are demanding an additional 1,5 billion euros for landlords, a recurring claim from social landlords who castigate the budgetary savings to which they were subjected under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.

They caution, however, about the constant changes in these devices. "Sometimes it's several changes per month!", justified Guillaume Gontard, judging that this instability "brings wait-and-see and confusion".

The report also recommends reforming again the energy performance diagnosis (DPE), which is mandatory for renting or selling housing and whose method of calculation, hastily reformed in 2021, is still the subject of criticism.

The senators propose to "correct the biases against small surfaces", to integrate protection against heat into its calculation, and to establish a special DPE for buildings built before 1948, in the name of their heritage value.

They also intend to tackle a sensitive subject: condominiums, a major blocking point in renovation due to the difficulty of making decisions there.

The senators propose to lower the thresholds for initiating work or taking out loans, and to take into account the collective DPE - for the whole building -, rather than that of each apartment individually, to apply the rules of gradual ban on renting.

More broadly, they wish to support industrial sectors linked to ecological construction, such as biosourced materials or heating and cooling equipment, or to train building professionals more in the challenges of renovation.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.