Professional organizations in Housing and Construction react to Gabriel Attal's statements

CAPEB recognizes itself in the priority given by the Prime Minister to the middle classes and is now awaiting a specific action plan for VSEs in the building sector.

“I would like to address all these French people, often from the middle class (…) who do not complain even though they have the feeling of suffering. (…) I hear them, I understand them(..), I want to help respond to them.” These are the remarks made by the Prime Minister during his general policy speech, which push CAPEB to think that VSEs, and more particularly in construction, will finally be able to benefit from measures that the Prime Minister will develop in the continuity of his speech, measures that CAPEB has been waiting with great impatience for months.

Some of the remarks made by the Prime Minister make CAPEB want to believe it: the expressed desire to unlock the housing sector, his choice to respond to the crisis facing the sector to massively simplify the standards starting with the revision DPE, and the simplification of access to MaPrimeRénov'. The organization notes that its Last Chance Appeal is finding a favorable response.

CAPEB wishes to remind the Prime Minister that he has at his disposal all the proposals it makes to build an action plan capable of ensuring VSEs maintain their activity, meet the objectives of ecological planning, and to take into account the problem of out-of-pocket expenses for households.

These proposals were developed by and for the VSEs themselves, without which it is unthinkable to design an ambitious housing policy. CAPEB calls on the Prime Minister not to deprive himself of this.

Regarding the GNR, discontent is growing over the deep injustice felt by artisanal construction companies with regard to the removal of the increase in the GNR granted to farmers. CAPEB asks the Prime Minister to take measures to protect our VSEs, the Confederation requested this on January 30 from Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, CAPEB does not will not give up.

FFC: Should we wall Paris up?

In his policy speech, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal highlighted the capital importance of social housing in the government agenda. While support for social and intermediate housing remains essential, it is imperative to pay equal attention to the issues surrounding the private housing sector. Without this approach, solving the housing crisis will remain out of reach.

For Damien Hereng, President of the FFC: “Mr Prime Minister, your proposal to designate 20 priority areas to speed up procedures, with the aim of building 30.000 new homes in the space of three years, seems insignificant given the scale of the problem facing the country. I remind you that according to the Social Housing Union (USH), 518.000 housing units should be built or put back on the market per year by 2040 in order to meet the future needs of the population. »

Worse, the only prospect for the French would therefore lie in renting social housing?

For Damien Hereng: “I am deeply outraged by this speech. The debate on housing in France cannot be limited to support for social housing alone. It must also include in-depth reflections on the creation of private housing, the importance of which is once again denied. »

More than a manifest error of assessment, this is a serious fault

Access to property remains the dream of many French people. For most fellow citizens, it symbolizes stability, security and personal achievement. It is also sometimes the only way to capitalize and secure your future.

For Damien Hereng: “Your analysis demonstrates a blatant lack of vision and understanding of the real issues facing our country. The construction of new housing and individual houses is not simply a question of buildings, but it is the essential basis for job creation, reindustrialization and the revival of the birth rate. »

No, “the French are not asking for the moon” and yes they want security, education and access to health, but without a roof over their heads, none of them make sense!

For Damien Hereng: “You say you want to respond to their concerns and carry their hopes,” but you are deaf to their cries. Mr Prime Minister, it is time to recognize the value and importance of the private housing sector. We are asking for concrete actions, a policy that truly supports the construction of the French people's preferred habitat. Do we have to wall up Paris with our bricks and mortar so that we can finally be heard and so that you can act? The construction of new housing, both collective and individual, must be a national priority, and we will accept nothing less. »

The employers (MEDEF, CPME, U2P) welcome Attal's speech but await the continuation

Representative employers' organizations welcomed Gabriel Attal's general policy speech on Tuesday evening, its "voluntarist" and "offensive" tone, some however putting forward some caveats or concerns.

The president of Medef Patrick Martin, in a reaction to AFP, "welcomed the voluntarism and concern for efficiency of the Prime Minister, who took into account a certain number (of) expectations" of his organization.

“We will act to ensure that this policy translates quickly and concretely into growth, and therefore job creation, whatever the sector of activity,” he added.

It seems that Medef wishes to consult its members before going into more detail, particularly those in the housing sector, for which Mr. Attal has set out various measures.

The Confederation of SMEs (CPME) indicated that it “shares the concern” of the Prime Minister who wants work to “pay better than inactivity”. However, she warns against the establishment of a universal time savings account (CETU) which “risks being a social burden unsuitable for the reality of small businesses”.

She welcomed "the awareness of the deep crisis facing the real estate sector", asking for "radical measures to revive" this sector.

The confederation estimated in a press release that "wanting to rhyme growth and climate+ was going in the right direction", but hoped that companies would be given "the means and time necessary to adapt to the changes imposed by decarbonization economy".

She judged, on the other hand, that "the question of the deficit and the weight of the public debt seemed relegated to the background", and that the announced generalization of the four-day week in administrations "does not bode well for a real desire to act in this domain".

For its part, the U2P (Union of Local Businesses) welcomed an “offensive speech”, testifying to “strong ambition and real determination”.

It will “support” orientations in favor of work, the retirement rights of self-employed workers, or simplification.

But it “warns of the desire to entrust each company with the task of negotiating the most appropriate rules”. “A small business is not equipped for this and on the contrary needs to refer to the rules defined by the professional sector,” she adds, also worrying about the desire to deregulate certain professions, such as trustees.

The U2P advocates “close consultation with the professions concerned”.

“Insignificant” measures for the USH

The measures announced Tuesday by Gabriel Attal on housing are "insignificant" given the scale of the crisis experienced by millions of French people, estimated Tuesday the Social Union for Housing (USH), the main confederation of social landlords.

“Instead of returning to the reforms of the first five-year term (...), which caused lasting harm to social housing, the Prime Minister is choosing a completely out-of-date announcement,” said the USH, for whom “ nothing has been advanced to accelerate the production of social housing and respond to the 2,6 million applicants.”

Among the measures announced, Gabriel Attal plans to "massively simplify the standards", by reviewing energy performance diagnostics (DPE), by simplifying access to MaPrimeRénov, but also by creating "30.000 housing units within three years in twenty territories ".

“The expected 30.000 housing units (...) do not even represent the deficit in social housing approvals for the year 2023,” observed the USH, recalling that “since 2018, the number of approvals (... ) has continued to decline, falling to 82.000 in 2023 for a target of 110.000".

On social housing, Gabriel Attal announced "a new very long-term loan of 2 billion euros" to respond to soaring land costs.

But for Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the USH, this amounts to offering “ever longer loans, always paying more”, instead of “regulating a market that has become uncontrollable”.

The Prime Minister also plans to "evolve" the sector to "support the middle classes", by giving the power to mayors to choose the first tenants of new housing in their municipality, and by integrating "intermediate housing" in the calculation of social housing quotas imposed on certain municipalities by the Solidarity and Urban Renewal (SRU) law.

Rents for intermediate housing "are far too high for a large majority of the middle classes", estimated the USH, recalling that today, "only 3% of households waiting for social housing are eligible".

Social landlords also denounced a "new attack" against the SRU law, estimating that the change in the method of calculation "will in no way resolve the delay in the construction of social housing" and will "reinforce territorial segregation".

The USH represents 566 HLM operators, which own and manage 4,8 million rental homes and house approximately 10,2 million people.

“It’s scandalous” criticizes the Abbé Pierre Foundation

"As you know, by 2025, all municipalities subject to the SRU law must have at least a quarter of social housing in their territory. We will propose to add, in part, intermediate housing, accessible to the middle class, in this calculation", declared the Prime Minister, immediately attracting criticism.

“It is scandalous to include in the quotas of the SRU law intermediate rental housing which is intended rather for the middle classes, or even the upper middle classes,” reacted to AFP Manuel Domergue, director of studies at the Foundation Abbot Pierre.

Mr. Domergue recalled that “three quarters of social housing applicants expect very social housing”.

“There was already not enough social housing and here we are going to give the opportunity to mayors who do not want to welcome poor people into their territory to welcome executives instead,” he added.

Other reactions from the sector

The president of the National Housing Agency (Anah), Thierry Repentin, denounces a plan which "amounts to repeating proposals made under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy".

“Intermediate housing, taking into account its rent level and therefore the income necessary to support it, concerns less than 5% of applicants for social housing in France”, deplores Mr. Repentin, former president of the National SRU Commission .

The announcement was also criticized by MP Stella Dupont (related to Renaissance), a member of the left wing of the majority. Relaxing the SRU law “seems to me to be a bad signal, risking leading to a drop in social housing construction,” she reacted in a press release.

Mr. Attal also announced that he wanted to “carry out requisitions for empty buildings”, particularly offices. Twenty “territories”, in which “all procedures” will be accelerated, will also be designated in two weeks, with the aim of creating “30.000 new housing units within three years”, he said.

The entire housing sector is going through a serious crisis in France, due to a fall in demand linked to the drastic tightening of borrowing conditions, investors' lack of interest in rental investment, considered less profitable, but also rising construction costs and land prices.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.