Housing renovation: economists recommend maintaining a budget of 8 billion per year until 2050

According to these economists, under current conditions, only 5% of renovation operations are economically profitable for households.

But by removing obstacles to investment, such as the difficulties of acting in co-ownership, access to credit for low-income households or the short-termism of owners, this figure rises to 26%.

And taking into account the collective benefits of renovation, such as avoided polluting emissions or better health for occupants, we can increase up to 55% of housing, they calculate. This would reduce France's CO70 emissions by 2% compared to 2018.

“There is a significant source of profitable renovations, but there is a strong difference between what is socially profitable and what is profitable from a private point of view for households,” explained Gabrielle Fack at a press conference, professor at Paris-Dauphine University.

"To be able to do this optimally, and to achieve this socially profitable objective of 55% BBC renovations (low carbon building, corresponding to energy classes A and B, the most efficient, Editor's note) we would need a multi-annual budget of "around 8 billion euros per year, which roughly corresponds to the current budget," she explained.

If the experts believe that renovation aid is currently rather well targeted, they put forward some proposals for reforms.

They therefore recommend combining, as much as possible, a change in heating method and insulation work. This was the announced objective of the reform of MaPrimeRénov', the main public aid for the energy renovation of housing, but this was postponed by a year.

They also suggest transforming the system of energy saving certificates (C2E), to which electricity suppliers are subject and considered too ineffective, into a contribution from these same suppliers to MaPrimeRénov'.

Another proposal: encourage households to undertake renovation work when they buy real estate, by making it possible to adjust transfer taxes for a fee (known as "notary fees") according to the energy performance of the property.

The energy renovation of housing is crucial to achieving France's climate objectives, with the use of buildings accounting for nearly a fifth of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.