Change to timeline of energy efficiency rules for French homes announced by PM

An incoming ban on renting out the most energy inefficient properties may be pushed back under plans by the new French government.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier said the current calendar for making homes more energy efficient “will be adapted” in his general policy speech on October 1. 

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No more details of the exact changes to be made have been announced but French media outlet Merci pour l’info believes it relates to rental property bans.

The current timeline of the diagnostic de performance énergétique (energy efficient diagnostics, DPE) would see all homes rated at ‘G’ level – the most energy inefficient after ‘G+’ – taken off the rental market in January 2025, until renovations are carried out to make them more efficient.

Read more: Explainer: DPE survey and new energy audit for properties in France

Ongoing leases on ‘G’ rated properties would not end in January. However, the law would prevent them from being renewed until the required improvements are made.

This would be followed by ‘F’ rated properties in 2028, then ‘E’ rated properties in 2034. ‘G+’ rated properties, the most inefficient, were banned from rentals in 2023.

Recently, the DPE system was altered to make smaller properties more fairly assessed for their levels of energy efficiency.

Read more: DPE ratings eased in France

Current plans are ‘untenable’ 

The rental ban on ‘G’ rated properties is set to affect up to 600,000 properties in France, putting a further squeeze on the property market, particularly for student rentals. 

Landlord and property owner unions strongly oppose the changes, which they see as inefficient for the market. 

Major unions including the Fédération Nationale de l'Immobilier, the Union Nationale des Propriétaires Indépendants and the Union des Syndicats de l'Immobilier announced the current timeline was ‘untenable’ and could not be effectively implemented. 

To allow properties to re-enter the market, homes would need to undergo energy efficiency work such as the installation of new heating/cooling systems, new windows, insulation, etc, paid for by the property owners. 

Pushing these changes back would give landlords more time to make changes, either gradually – improving the rating from a G to an F, then E, and so on – or via a one-off period of renovation to greatly increase the property’s energy efficiency. 

In some cases, property owners can apply for state aid via schemes such as MaPrimeRénov’. 

Not all are happy about proposal 

Despite backing from multiple property unions, energy renovation companies are against changing the calendar. 

“After the regulatory stop-and-go, after the cut in the MaPrimeRénov' budget, we've now been told that the timetable… has been backtracked,” Audrey Zermati, strategy director at energy renovation company Effy told Merci pour l’info.

“We are witnessing a worrying unravelling of France's energy renovation policies. What message are we sending to people in France? What benchmarks are we giving property owners?” she added. 

“Postponing these obligations is not a step in the right direction,” said Sylvain Le Falher, co-founder of energy renovation group Hello Watt to Le Figaro. 

“Individuals are at a loss and are no longer taking the plunge; they are postponing their projects. All this questioning is having the opposite effect to that intended by the politicians,” he added.