Energy renovation
To “improve the housing supply”, the National Rally has tabled a bill aimed at ending the ban on renting thermal sieves. A measure that will have a hard time being supported by the left and the Macronists.
“Putting a stop to Emmanuel Macron’s policy of dispossession”accused of being “ideologically hostile to real estate ownership”. In a joint bill tabled in the National Assembly on September 17, the parliamentary group of the National Rally wishes to repeal article 160 of the law of August 22, 2021 known as “climate and resilience”This is the central provision of the text, establishing a timetable for banning the rental of very poorly insulated housing, also known as thermal sieves.
This term refers to properties with the worst energy performance diagnosis (DPE), the environmental rating of the accommodation. As of January 1, 2025, all properties rated G will no longer be able to be rented. This has already been the case since January 1, 2023 for the “worst G”, called “G+”. The deadline is set for January 1, 2028 for those rated F, and January 1, 2034 for E. In the short term, the RN is therefore counting on maintaining the worst thermal sieves – the G – to increase the rental supply, “especially in tense areas”the deputies specify.
Energy audit, an additional cost “unregulated”
“This constraint depreciates the value of housing classified from G+ to D which finds it difficult to find buyers, given the reluctance of banks to grant financing when acquiring a property that cannot be rented out.”we can read in the bill. This proposal, which is highly questionable for the well-being of tenants and was already formulated during the 2024 legislative campaign, would put a major brake on the energy renovation policy for housing. At least if it were voted on in the National Assembly. Which is unlikely to be the case. The left, and even the Macronist camp, which is at the origin of this legislation, should not support it.
This brutal step backwards would also be reinforced by another regulatory easing contained in the proposed law: the elimination, for the owner, of the requirement to carry out an energy audit. This paid document is a report, produced by a professional, indicating the work to be implemented to improve the DPE of the accommodation. For the owner, its cost “is not regulated”, but generally ranges between 800 and 1,500 euros.
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