A speech from the Prime Minister, a motivated Housing Minister, but the four measures announced require a law which cannot be discussed before the fall – in the best case scenario.
Publi-Information 
During his speech in Marseille on April 24, 2026, the Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said : “there is nothing more political than housing, and yet, perhaps, it has been a long time since politicians have ever talked so little about housing“. He reaffirmed his goal: “build 2 million homes in 2030. Said like that, it seems simple, in reality, it is still a question of building 100,000 more per year than what is built today, without having any break in load, upstream and downstream, from the decision to sign a building permit, through the financial arrangement of the project, whether social or private, up to the capacity to deliver and have the various declarations of work completion for the professions concerned.”
A bill in “the coming times”
THE measures presented in Marseille must pass, says the Prime Ministerby a “bill that the minister (of Housing) will present in the near futures”. And, he continues, “we wanted to have a text dedicated to housing which will be presented to the Council of Ministers, the first reading of which must take place, obviously, by the summer and which I hope that the discussion can then take place, including at the time when we will have the budgetary discussion, because we cannot dissociate the recovery of housing, obviously, from the pure fiscal or budgetary decisions that we could take for next year“.
In short, what will this bill contain, the text of which we do not yet know and God knows if the Devil is hiding in the details?
The first measurement is relatively distant. THE second program of the ANRU (National Agency for Urban Renovation) ends in 2030. The Prime Minister announced a third program which will cover the period 2030 – 2040.
Vincent Jeanbrun did not commit to the amounts mobilized for this third period, indicating that it will be up to Parliament to decide. However, he emphasized in The Parisian from Monday April 27, 2026 that the program “this time will not only address large complexes, but will have the desire to repair neighborhoods and reconquer devitalized city centers“, and also, “and it is unprecedented to respond to similar issues in rural areas or in this “France of sub-prefectures”, too often forgotten“. Or, if we understand correctly, a wider scope, but no financial commitment.
Last September, during the HLM congress, Patrice Vergriete, mayor of Dunkirk and president of the ANRU, highlighted that the State had so far only paid 10% of its planned contribution to the second ANRU program. The State paid €47 million in 2025; according to it, €250 million would be needed or at least €116 million according to Cédric van Styvendael, the socialist mayor of Villeurbanne.
The bill should allow a Mayor to deviate from the PLU of his municipality, with prior approval from the Prefect, to accelerate housing construction projects. © PP
More powers, but less funding for mayors
Second measure, Sébastien Lecornu intends to entrust to mayors who wish it the share of allocation hitherto allocated to prefectsor 30% of the social housing stock. This includes emergency housing and Dalo (enforceable right to housing). In response, the AMF (Association of Mayors of France) indicates in a press release that it is against “a generalized decentralization of emergency accommodation policies, Dalo, and migration management, considering that these are sovereign powers which fall under national solidarity“.
The third measure announced is almost funny because it contradicts the government’s actions. This one comes in fact on April 7 from eliminate aid to building mayorscreated in 2025 and consisting of an envelope of €100 million. Regardless, the new objective is to allow projects led by mayors to benefit from accelerated proceduresin a logic of “simplification”. According to Vincent Jeanbrun, these operations of local interest which would allow exceptions to the PLU should a priori be subject to validation by the prefect.
The case of co-ownerships whose renovation is complex is not mentioned in the speeches on the housing bill. However, it is often not possible to limit yourself to work in an apartment to bring it at least to class E of the DPE. We must mobilize collective work. © PP
The return of thermal strainers to the market
The government realized that theban on renting thermal strainers removed around 700,000 homes from the rental market. In a context of housing shortage, this was not a good idea. Suddenly, fourth measure, he changes his tune, the housing classified F and G within the meaning of the DPE may be offered for rental if the owner undertakes to carry out improvement work within three years of rental for individual houses and within five years for apartments, with the aim that the accommodation reaches at least class E within the meaning of the DPE. Three years, five years, in CAPEB’s language, it’s called renovation in stages or the renovation course, which it has been asking for for a long time. But it is not sure that this is the government’s idea.
Remember that 5.4 million housing units are classified F and G in France, or nearly 15% of the housing stock. G housing is already prohibited from renting, F housing should be from 2028 and 2034 for E housing. The Ecological Transition Agency, which everyone continues to call ADEME, which collates the DPE, will have to carry out a check on the rating achieved after the work, accompanied by possible sanctions in the event of fraud.
Finally, the tax status of the private lessor will be extended to existing individual houses, with a reduction in the amount of work to 20% of the price of the property and a simplification of energy requirements. This simplification is not specified.
Finally, the particular case of old buildings, the renovation of which is technically complex and often subject to authorization from the ABF (Architects of Buildings of France) is not mentioned either. © PP
We will know more when we can read this announced bill which should be presented before the summer in the Council of Ministers, then included on the agenda of the National Assembly and the Senate. Knowing that the Assembly does not sit in July, August and September, except in an extraordinary session convened by the President of the Republic on a specific agenda, the discussion will not begin before the fall, also the budget discussion period. In short, all this will at best be applicable in 2027, with a lot of luck.
