“There is a tsunami of disappearance of housing”, alarms Julien Bayou, ecologist deputy of Paris. This Tuesday morning, Café Concorde in Paris, three parliamentarians presented their proposals to better regulate the rental of short-term tourist accommodation, which they accuse of siphoning off the supply of housing in France.
Starting with Paris, where it has become very difficult to find accommodation. “In the 3rd arrondissement, I checked this morning, there are 2,600 seasonal rental offers and 30 in classic lease”, explains Julien Bayou who went up with three other parliamentarians from different political sides, Inaki Echaniz, deputy for the Pyrenees- Atlantiques (PS), Christophe Plassard, deputy for Charente-Maritime (Horizons) and a third absentee this morning, Max Brisson, senator for Pyrénées-Atlantiques (LR), a website that brings together all of their proposals.
“People can no longer live there”
Among the measures put forward, the abolition of the tax niche enjoyed by short-term rental companies, the ban on the rental of thermal sieves via tourist platforms, the reduction to 90 of the number of nights authorized for the rental of one’s main residence, by extending this ban to second homes, or even the possibility for communities to better regulate at their level.
Because the situations are very different according to the territories. Inaki Echaniz explains that in the urban community of the Basque Country, between 2016 and 2020 there was a 130% increase in tourist rentals. “I’m on a Facebook group in my town, there’s at least one post a day from someone looking for accommodation and can’t find it. The nursing staff is obliged to sleep in a car in the summer, there are municipalities with more than 50% of second homes. And the people who live in Bayonne can no longer find accommodation there, this creates transport problems, we find ourselves with traffic jams in the middle of the valleys, ”protests the deputy.
The parliamentarians are preparing a bill which should be examined in June, but call on the government to integrate these measures into a bill. “Not everything can fit into a bill, the bills are more complete”, justifies Julien Bayou.
“There is a hole in the racket”
The deputy for Paris places particular emphasis on the ban on the rental of thermal colanders for the short term, whereas in Ile-de-France, without energy renovation work, nearly one in two dwellings will soon be prohibited for conventional rental, and that in Paris, more than a fifth of accommodation is already classified F or G. “denounces the deputy, who believes that the law is circumvented. “There is a hole in the racket” abounds Inaki Echaniz.
The parliamentarians also believe that the reduction from 120 to 90 days should allow people who have inherited a second home which is expensive to maintain to rent it enough time to cover the charges for the year. “These people have to be able to continue to keep their property, but 90 days normally allows them to keep their property”, advances Christophe Plassard, who highlights the London situation, where the limit is 90 days.
People kicked out at the start of the summer
The elected officials insisted on the need to increase controls. “Illegal mobility leases, abusive holidays for sale, false declarations on the types of residences and on the activity of tourist rentals contribute to the housing crisis” states their manifesto. In the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Inaki Echaniz claims to have noticed that many people are “kicked out” at the start of the summer, the owners having signed mobility leases for a maximum period of 10 months to be able to rent more expensive during the summer period. “The right to property has taken precedence over the right to housing”, denounces the elected official. “When I looked for my permanence, I only found rentable accommodation from September to June”, abounds Christophe Plassard.
The situation seems so important that it has allowed a cross-partisan initiative to see the light of day. “It’s nice to see that there are subjects on which we can work together”, rejoices Christophe Plassard, of the majority, who wants “this to move forward”, and “it doesn’t matter whether it’s done by Pierre or Paul “. “The minister has shown discretion, to his credit, but now things have to move forward” responds as an echo Julien Bayou, with a small tackle against his colleague from the majority. Laughter burst out, Christophe Plassard thanks the ecologist deputy for having skilfully twisted his sentence. “I don’t mind playing political correctness if things change! »