Big drop in permits for new homes to be built in France
Permits for single-family homes are down by almost a quarter year-on-year
The type of home seeing the biggest drop in permits being granted is single-family properties
Francesco Scatena/Shutterstock
The number of building permits granted in France has dropped to its lowest level since 2015, with a fall of more than 15% recorded in the past 12 months alone, new figures show.
Between July 2023 and July 2024, just 348,000 housing permits were issued, a fall of 15.5% year-on-year, show figures from the Ministry for Ecological Transition. This equates to 63,000 fewer approvals over one year.
Permits by types of housing
Single family homes were the most affected by the phenomenon.
Single family homes: 24% fewer permits issued in July 2024 compared to July 2023
Multi-family housing (apartment blocks): 15% fewer
Residential accommodation (for students and senior citizens): 6% fewer
Permits by region: Where is the issue worst?
The situation is particularly tense in three regions, with a 23% drop year-on-year:
Ile-de-France
Centre-Val de Loire
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
The areas with the lowest drops were:
Brittany has been affected hard by the ZAN (Zéro Artificialisation Nette, zero net ‘artificialisation’) law of 2023, which deals with the fight against climate disruption and which will make building land scarcer. The ZAN is aiming to stop all artificialisation of land by 2050.
Why the drop in permits?
The drop can mainly be explained by two factors:
The soaring costs of raw materials and construction. This peaked during the Covid crisis but was hit hard again by the rising inflation seen in the past two years.
Increasingly strict environmental standards, which can substantially increase building costs.
Yet, experts have warned that the fall in building permits is causing an additional knock-on problem: a fall in construction jobs.
The Fédération française du bâtiment has warned that 150,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the French construction industry between now and next year, as a result of the downturn.
Read also: Thousands of jobs lost as new building permits plummet in France
The new figures show a continuation of a trend first noticed in 2023, when the number of permits issued dropped by 30% nationwide since a peak of new permits in 2022.
Last year, the Fédération des promoteurs immobiliers said that the number of new housing projects was at the lowest level since 2010.
Read more: Number of building permits issued in France continues to fall
Read more: Points to know when buying land in France to build a house on
Developers have said that they are struggling to get mayors to grant planning permission, as the mayors are under pressure from residents who do not want new buildings in their area.
Similarly, some mayors have limited building permits for yet another reason too; water shortages.
In March 2023, authorities in nine communes in Var (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) decided that they could not currently accommodate any new residents nor allow any new building projects – with the water that this requires – to take place for the next four years.
