France is a nation of home owners

Newly-released statistics show France is becoming a nation of home owners with the percentage of average French people owning their own home rising from 54.4% in 1996 to 62% in 2013, the most recent year for which figures are available.

These average French are also ‘median households’ as defined by the state statistics agency Insee, as their earnings of €1,500 to €1,850 a month split the population between the poorest and the best-off parts.

Figures for all the population show that 58% of all French households own their home against one in two in 1973.

Airbnb restricts hosts to 120-day rentals

Airbnb is from this month limiting owners renting out flats in the centre of Paris to a maximum of 120 days a year.

Long criticised for unfair competition with hotels and other accommodation, Airbnb now meets Paris mairie limits on private rentals in the four central arrondissements.

Non-professional owners trying to rent for longer will be blocked by the firm’s software.

Hosts average €1,678 a year in rent income for an average 17 days’ rental but 23% of flats for rent were empty in August.

Airbnb’s Dataville website shows how much average hosts make a year: €1,600 in Berger­ac, €2,800 in Nice, €3,100 in Annecy or €5,100 in Deauville.

Estate agents without borders

Estate agents qualified in France will be able to work across Europe with the ratification of a new electronic Carte professionnelle européenne that also gives added protection for the consumer by allowing easier identification of fraudsters.

Holding the card, which is for agents involved in transactions and not rental or tenancy management, allows estate agents to set up or run their own office or franchise. Aimed to allow increased mobility in the EU, the card is available from the site ecas.ec.europa.eu and is valid, initially, for 18 months.

Low energy ratings hit house sale prices

The negative effects of having an energy rating of F or G are greater than the positive effects of having a higher rating when a house is up for sale or rental.

The diagnostic de performance énergétique (DPE) gives an indication of the amount of energy consumed by a property and the notaires’ association Dinamic has shown the effects it can have on market prices.

The average French home rated D on the energy-efficiency DPE scale and its consumption over the year will be between 151 and 230kWh for each square meter of inside area. A house of 100m2 uses from 15,100kWh to 23,000kWh over the year – and a G-rated house uses more than 45,000kWh

It showed that houses with F or G ratings sold for less, with prices from 6% to 17% less than a similar D rated house. In the suburbs of Paris a house classed C sells 5% dearer than a house classed D.

Top ratings saw prices up from 3% to 19% depending on the region – but some regions, such as Brittany, Normandy and Hauts-de-France showed no price difference.

TV viewers may need to retune channels

Television viewers who still use old-style outdoor râteau TV aerials will need to reset their TV before June 2019 to continue to receive the full list of free-to-air TNT channels.

A rolling programme of changes to switch frequencies towards 4G and 5G mobile internet networks means 30% of today’s frequencies will no longer broadcast TV.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Paca have started (check recevoirLaTNT.fr for your area) and users need to do a new search for channels on their TVs.