“Housing construction is at a standstill: for the great ills there are great remedies”

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Our political decision-makers must act quickly to restart the seized housing production machine. To do this, they would have every interest in drawing inspiration from the success of the Olympic village, according to Henry Buzy-Cazaux, founding president of the Institute of Real Estate Services Management.

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The production of new housing in our country is broken down and the levers which could have awakened it, like a powerful zero interest loan or even a reduction in gift taxes for the purchase of a new property by children or grandchildren, will not be available for several months… if the government manages to vote on a budget in February as the Prime Minister wishes. In any case, we forget to say that if demand is resolvable through welcome measures, it will not be enough to effectively restart activity quickly: promoters will have to feel a strong pull from the expressed demand. by households to relaunch construction operations, buy back land, form financing rounds, form projects, submit building permit applications, obtain them, purge third party appeals, now almost systematic, finally open construction sites and carry them out successfully. These are years, rarely less than six or seven, which are necessary to successfully complete a programfrom idea to delivery.

Added to this evidence, which all professionals are aware of, are circumstances likely to entangle the ideal chronology, already very long, the municipal elections of March 2026: we know that in the months preceding these deadlines, mayors have concerns not to upset the major balances of their municipality so as not to compromise their re-election by traumatizing the inhabitants. In short, if a developer already owns land and his financing is assured, he would not be able to effectively house a family for five or six years. France cannot afford the luxury of such a delay. So it’s time to tap into our resources of creativity and willpower.

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“Let the exception of the Olympics become the norm”

The country was able to do this for the Olympic and Paralympic Games: the Olympic villagethe construction of which was decided in 2018, the first stone of which was laid in 2019, was delivered without delay in March 2024with a budget held to within 3%. This extraordinary construction site should have lasted twice as long. What happened? First of all, when you have to take on a challenge for which the whole world is watching you, the stakes are considerable and there is no room for error. Then, the Olympic Games were established as a collective destiny and the organizing committee, in a way, got the whole Nation behind it… starting with the stakeholders in the act of building, local authorities and the State, construction companies and developers. . Up to the legislator who was called into the cause: the special law of March 26, 2018 relating to the organization of the Olympic Games and the JOP created several exemptions from the town planning code, to simplify and accelerate.

Furthermore, it was not a project repeating well-established solutions, but a major innovative operation among all others. The intensive use of biosourced materials, wood in particular, but also more efficient concrete, demanding waste reprocessing circuits, reversible uses, reusable removable walls and many other daring features have characterized this ambitious, responsible, social creation. and environmental.

What if, quite simply, we established as rules of common law the logic and modalities which enabled the undeniable success of the Olympic and Paralympic village? Let the exception become the current. When it comes to prestige and pageantry, policy makers don’t beat around the bush. French households struggling to find housing have as much inventiveness and agility as the best athletes on the planet. President Macron will have attached his name to two exploits, the success of the Olympics and the restoration of Notre-Dame in record time. He can still tie it up, with his new Prime Minister and his Housing Minister – fortunately reappointed – to adapt the conditions in which we build the housing of our compatriots. Less dazzling, but ultimately more lastingly glorious for a head of state. Sic transit gloria mundi…