Housing bill: Will 700,000 energy-inefficient homes soon be back on the rental market?

The government has just unveiled a key measure of its new housing bill: to reintroduce by 2028 nearly 700,000 homes classified as F or G – the infamous energy sieves – which are now being progressively excluded from the rental market due to energy performance obligations.

The stated objective: to combat the housing shortage

Faced with an unprecedented rental crisis, particularly in major cities, the government wants to prevent thousands of properties from remaining vacant due to a lack of timely renovations. The idea: to allow landlords to continue renting, provided they formally commit to renovating .

A mandatory work commitment

• Owners will have to sign an energy renovation commitment .
• The maximum time allowed to complete the work will be 5 years for properties in co-ownership , where collective decisions often slow down construction projects.
• For individual dwellings, the timeframe could be shorter (depending on the final decisions).

A delicate balance

This measure is already generating mixed reactions:

• Landlords see this as a necessary relaxation to avoid forced vacancies and loss of income.
• Environmental groups are denouncing a step backwards in the fight against energy-inefficient housing.
• Tenants , for their part, hope that this will help to ease a market that has become inaccessible , while remaining protected by a clear renovation schedule.

A risky but strategic bet

Massively reintroducing energy-inefficient housing while simultaneously requiring its renovation is a gamble:

• It could rapidly increase the rental supply ,
• but it depends on the actual ability of the owners to finance and carry out the work on time.

The parliamentary debate promises to be lively, as this measure touches on the power to house , the energy transition and the regulation of the real estate market .