Investigations tell a different story. According to an Ipsos BVA survey carried out in April for the developer Bouygues Immobilier, 57% of buyers already place the resistance of a home to heatwaves among their selection criteria, and a fifth would consider moving to a cooler region. The gap between declared intentions and observed behavior is obvious. “If we visit when it’s 40 degrees in Paris or Lyon, obviously, we realize the quality of the accommodation”nuance the leader.
Summer comfort, a blind spot in diagnosis
In twenty years, the energy performance diagnosis has permanently changed the way the French view housing. “There is not a French person today who is not informed about the DPE, who has not understood that when it is green, it is good, and when it is red, it is not good”summarizes Yann Jéhanno. The criterion was invited to the negotiating table in the same way as the presence of an elevator, measuring the operating cost as much as the value of the property.
However, this tool suffers from a blind spot. Designed for winter, the DPE ignores summer comfort, so much so that a very insulated home can turn into a swelter from June. Until 30% of housing classified A would be affected according to the same study, and the Minister of Housing Vincent Jeanbrun mentions more than one housing in three.
A paradox locks the system. Installing air conditioning improves comfort but increases consumption, therefore degrading the diagnostic score. “We want to be very eco-friendly, to consume as little as possible, and here we are in the process of adding equipment which will increase housing consumption”notes Yann Jéhanno. Building specialists advocate exterior solar protection and less energy-consuming air fans before any use of air conditioning.
What the heat already moves
The clearest signal comes from the holding cost, not the thermometer. In Laforêt, the demand for houses fell by 4.7% in the first half, when that of apartments increased slightly. Housing classified F or G undergoes systematic discounts, and negotiations sometimes exceed 15% on large houses to renovate. Some buyers see it as a bargain. “They turn to the most energy-intensive housing, because they are put on the market a little cheaper”observes the leader.
Co-ownership remains the main obstacle. Between the agreement of the assembly, the opinion of the architects of buildings in France and neighborhood tensions, air conditioning a building is an obstacle course. “Even if you have the means to install air conditioning, if your neighbor doesn’t have them, he will put obstacles in your way”describes Yann Jéhanno. The government relaxed the rules in June, with a simple majority vote for major renovations and reduced VAT on reversible heat pumps.
Where the heat is already weighing down, it is on the second home and on the residence that we choose to spend our retirement. The retirees who populated the south-east are sliding towards the Atlantic, fleeing both heatwaves and torrential rains on concrete floors. The mountain follows the same slope, driven by summer tourism and lakes that have become refuges. “Between land and sea, thirty or forty kilometers from the Breton coast, there are still attractive markets”slips the president of Laforêt, who also cites the surroundings of the Alpine lakes.
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