French ski resort accommodation granted energy rating reprieve

A proposed ban on renting out properties with poor energy ratings, due to come into effect on January 1, has been postponed until 2034 in mountainous areas of France.

The areas, which include ski stations, feature many concrete buildings constructed in the 1970s which fall into the G category of the diagnostic de performance énergétique (DPE).

Elected officials and tourist organisations have long insisted it would be impossible to do necessary work to raise DPE ratings in time, both for technical reasons and because of the lack of skilled builders.

“Our pleas fell on deaf ears until the government changed and Michel Barnier, who comes from a mountain area, became prime minister,” said Jean-Luc Boch, mayor of La Plagne-Tarentaise, a ski resort in Savoie, and president of the Association Nationale des Maires des Stations de Montagne.

Ski stations in Pyrénées close early due to lack of snow

DPE extension

“He knew the problems we face and saw that it would be impossible to turn people away from renting a large part of our accommodation, so granted the extension.”

A law formalising the exception was drawn up but had not yet been put before parliament when the Barnier government collapsed.

However, Mr Boch, himself a builder, is confident the new François Bayrou government will see it through.

“It will be very difficult to put it back on the books, because years of effort have shown the impossibility of meeting the 2025 deadline.”

Mr Bayrou is mayor of Pau, not far from the mountain resorts of the Pyrenees, which face similar problems.

Mr Boch said the difficulty of bringing buildings up to a decent DPE rating, as well as changes to the market, mean some old buildings are likely to be demolished and replaced.

“When they were built, people were happy to have four people share a small, 25m2 apartment for a week while they all went skiing,” he said.

“Now that is not the case and people want to have larger places.”

Overall the Association Nationale des Maires des Stations de Montagne rated the 2024-25 ski season as “good”, with an 83% occupancy rate after the main February ski holidays, the same as the year before. 

The number of French skiers was stable but there was a rise in the number of foreign visitors, especially from The Netherlands and Germany, while the number of British skiers was stable

A study by estate agents FNAIM of 30 French ski stations found that 75% of housing was rated E, F, or G.

Read more: France’s only free ski slope closes: Which other resorts are considered at risk?

Short-term lets loophole

In the majority of ski stations, a loophole exists for G-rated properties rented out as furnished, short-term tourist lets.

Data from government energy agency ADEME (Agence de la transition écologique), which receives information from all DPE certificates, show that the worst-performing stations are Valféjus (Savoie), with 70% of housing on F or G ratings, and Le Cirque du Lys (Hautes-Pyrénées), where 60% have those ratings.

Mountain renovation specialist Synergiec estimates it costs 30% more to renovate in ski resorts than elsewhere in France.

“The higher prices are because of the cost of transporting materials, the need to use specialised equipment such as cranes, and the high labour costs in mountain areas,” Synergiec CEO Sylvain Lefèvre told The Connexion.

He added that there was a paradox in that most ski resorts were still seeing property prices rise, even though they fell slightly in France generally throughout much of 2024.

“Owners see prices going up, and that encourages them to keep their properties, even though they need a lot of expensive work,” he said.

“Another factor is that many ski resorts are starting to crack down on Airbnbs, which makes renting out a property on a normal contract rather than a tourist one more attractive. 

"To do so, however, you need a decent DPE – or at least an estimate from a tradesperson for energy-improvement work – even if they say it will be two years before they start.”

Mr Lefèvre said he was confident that buildings in ski resorts will improve their energy efficiency, but he agreed an extension was needed.

“There is no way the original timetable was realistic for mountain areas,” he said.