Rennes has long been spared from strong real estate speculation. Some years, she even contemplated the soaring prices at her Nantes neighbor, wondering if she would one day be concerned. The day seems to have arrived. Very attractive, the Breton metropolis has attracted as many Parisians as inhabitants of the Great West and has seen the price of its real estate skyrocket in recent years. In new buildings, the price per square meter on the free market in 2022 posted an average of 4,228 euros in mainland France, excluding Rennes. In the city center, the situation is even worse: 5,628 euros per square meter! A figure never reached which causes great tension. “There are a lot of concerns among our residents about the housing issue. Because people have difficulty finding housing, but also because of the high cost,” emphasizes Nathalie Appéré.
Aware of the problem, the president of the metropolis presented Thursday evening the strategic orientations of the future local housing plan. Or to put it simply, the political decisions it intends to take to curb the real estate boom. The first pillar will be quantity. While the previous PLH imposed 4,000 new homes per year, the new plan will require 5,000, to be distributed among the 43 municipalities of the metropolis. All this with a goal of zero net land take. “We expect that 500 housing units per year will come from recycling by transforming old offices into housing, for example”, specifies Honoré Puil, vice-president in charge of the file.
26,000 people waiting for social housing
This figure of 5,000 homes per year has aroused some reactions, particularly in the opposition. “However, this supply strategy did not work. The first of our fears is therefore to see you, with this objective, fueling an inflationary and excluding mechanism, a mechanism that commodifies the city,” says Carole Gandon of the Révéler Rennes group.
Already cited as an example for its management of social housing, the Breton capital wants to accelerate further. It should impose on promoters a share of social housing for any construction of at least five dwellings, against fifteen previously. More than 26,000 people are waiting for social housing in the metropolis. Worse, 11,000 people are deprived of personal homes and 6,700 households live in “very difficult” conditions according to an Audiar survey.
In an attempt to limit speculation, the metropolis also intends to rely on its “solidarity land” program which provides for the dissociation of land and buildings. Already in force in eight municipalities, this system allows the public authorities to retain ownership of the land where a building is being built. The prices there are much more reasonable with a price per square meter of around 2,200 euros. The purchaser being the owner only of the walls, this limits speculation.
“Last week, we learned that a plot of land housing an 80 m² pavilion was to sell for 1.6 million euros. At some point, you have to calm down, ”recalls the president Nathalie Appéré. Debated Thursday evening before the metropolitan council, the future local housing plan will have to be voted on in March before being submitted to the vote of the 43 municipalities. Its final adoption will not be effective before December 2023.