Senator bids to ban new second homes in several areas - how would it work?
‘These areas are out of control’ says the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of housing who is supporting the idea
“If you want to buy a second home in Paris, in a tense area like the 7th or 8th arrondissement, you won't be able to,” says a Paris senator
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A French senator is set to propose a bill that would ban the purchase of second homes in areas considered to be experiencing housing shortages and high property vacancy.
Paris senator Ian Brossat is set to table the proposition de loi (PPL, draft law) to the Senate this week, Le Figaro reports. He has also won support from Jacques Baudrier, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of housing (a job that Mr Brossat himself once held).
‘These areas are out of control’
His proposed law would ban the purchase of properties in zones tendues (areas designated as subject to housing pressure) that are not intended to become the buyer’s own main home.
The law would apply not only to Paris, but would give all authorities in zones tendues the option to enforce the ban.
The number of these zones was significantly increased last year to cover some 3,700 communes (you can use this simulator to check if a given postcode area is concerned). They include many large urban areas as well as popular tourist spots along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.
Zones tendues are also areas in which local councils are authorised to levy a surcharge on the taxe d’habitation local property tax, and where a special tax exists on ‘vacant’ (empty, unused) properties.
Read more: More French towns are imposing ‘empty home tax’ in 2024
“This proposal does not concern existing second homes, but new ones,” said Mr Baudrier to Le Figaro. “For example, if you live in Bordeaux and you want to buy a second home in Paris, in an under-pressure area like the 7th or 8th arrondissement, you won't be able to.
“These areas are out of control,” he said. “We need to stop the haemorrhaging.” Senator Brossat said that Paris is losing 8,000 main homes a year. “In 2011, the city had 430,000 homes occupied as a principal residence, but this figure has fallen to 350,000 today.”
More than a third (36%) of homes in the 8th arrondissement of Paris are vacant or used as second homes, for example, data from national statistics bureau INSEE shows.
Mr Brossat and Mr Baudrier accept that “these measures would limit certain aspects of property rights”, but “are intended to be proportionate to the objective of guaranteeing respect for the right to housing”.
They add that in some areas, the number of second homes “makes access to housing impossible for year-round residents”.
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Extra taxes on expensive properties
The proposed law is also expected to ask that there should be more taxes on the most expensive homes, particularly if they change from becoming main properties to second homes.
It is suggested that the additional money raised could go to the Agence nationale du habitat (Anah) to compensate for budget cuts affecting the MaPrimeRénov’ scheme, which Anah runs to help people to renovate their own homes.
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Mr Brossat and Mr Baudrier say the best way to do this would be to raise the droits de mutation (often referred to as ‘notaire’s fees’) for homes sold at around €12,000 per square metre or more. This would apply where someone’s former main home is being bought to become a second home.
They say it is important for Anah to have dedicated and consistent revenue, to ensure that it can continue to help those who need to do environmentally-friendly renovations.
The tax rate could be increased to as much as 12%, it is proposed. This would bring it in line with similar taxes that already exist in Belgium’s Walloon region, where it is 4% for a main residence, and 12.5% for a second home.
Mr Brossat and Mr Baudrier were last year quoted in the French press as having called for ‘requisition rights’ to be transferred to mairies (these rights can, in exceptional circumstances, be used by prefectures with regard to vacant and second homes) .
They suggested that the powers, which are hardly ever used at present, could be used by councils as a way to take back empty properties and use them to house the homeless.
