Mr. Minister of the Budget, transitional measures are needed to accompany the extinction of Pinel!

Remember… More than ten years ago, on December 31, 2012, the Scellier rental investment scheme ended. Even though it was immediately followed by another scheme, the short-lived Duflot, quickly replaced by its clone Pinel, its extinction was nevertheless subject to transitional measures.

Set out in Article 81 of the 2013 Finance Act, they provided that the tax reduction would apply "to housing acquired no later than March 31, 2013, provided that the taxpayer can prove that he made a commitment to make a real estate investment no later than December 31, 2012."

Today, it is a done deal: the Pinel scheme, in force since September 1, 2014, will indeed end at the end of 2024. The multiple amendments tabled as part of the 2025 finance bill, planning to extend it by one, or even two or three years, have all been rejected. Ite missa est, as you will have understood.

The amendments tabled in this same draft finance bill in order to set up, for Pinel, a transitional system modelled on that which existed for Scellier – reservation registered by 31 December 2024 and authentic deed concluded no later than 31 March 2025 – were also rejected in the National Assembly. And this, while no system promoting private rental investment will succeed Pinel, a first in 40 years of real estate history!

But, reading between the lines, even if the Minister of the Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, remains opposed to the amendments proposing transitional measures until the end of March, common sense could prevail over dogma. The reason is simple: to allow Pinel to be truly operational until its extinction. It was even said, during the debates, that people reserving an apartment on December 30 or 31 would not have access to the system because notaries' offices are closed on January 1!

But the reality is much worse: in the absence of transitional measures and taking into account the time taken to sign sales deeds, the Pinel regime will, in practice, expire within two to three weeks, depriving exhausted developers of a breath of fresh air and the French of housing.

Mr. Minister, you assured during the debates that "we will try to find a legal formulation that does not place in an absurd situation those who have made a reservation before the extinction of the system (...) on December 31". Now, all you have to do is put your money where your mouth is!

Tribune by Norbert Fanchon, President of the Gambetta Group (LinkedIn).