It’s no secret: for several years, France has been going through an unprecedented housing crisis. To combat this phenomenon, the government has put in place a large-scale system which has just been extended and expanded to several new cities in France.
A few years ago, the French government put in place a major measure to combat inflation and the housing crisis. His name? The PTZ for Zero Rate Loan. Supposed to run until the end of 2023, it was extended until 2027 in order to allow as many low-income households as possible to benefit from significant real estate assistance. And significant aid for accession.
Open to all under several conditions – starting with resources, the composition of the purchasing household and the geographical location of the housing purchased or built -, it intends to allow future buyers to obtain a 0-rate loan, i.e. say without interest. Thus, the latter only repay the borrowed capital. Provided of course that you respect a few commitments: not having purchased a main residence in the last two years, and choosing said accommodation as your home no more than one year after the purchase or completion of the work.
A most advantageous system which, although it cannot cover the entirety of a real estate project, has already enabled many families to find accommodation in so-called tense areas. In fact, the PTZ defines several zones within which the percentage of zero-rate support is more or less high. It can therefore vary from 20% to 50% depending on the region.
Moreover, thanks to a decree taken on July 5, 2024 and in response to increasingly strong real estate tension, 688 French municipalities have been reclassified as tense areas, areas which can therefore benefit from the famous PTZ system. They were designated based on the state of the local real estate market, the more or less guaranteed balance between supply and demand, the level of scarcity of real estate to buy and the price of real estate.
Thus, due to sharply rising sales prices and rents, the metropolis of Nantes – which has seen a mass arrival of Parisians who have settled there in recent years – has just moved from zone B to zone A, the most criticism put in place by the system. Future Nantes buyers will therefore be able to benefit from the highest percentage of coverage for the famous PTZ, i.e. 50% of the total cost of the said real estate project. Provided that their income falls within the planned classifications.
