Eleven months. This is the average length of the mandate of a Minister of Housing under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. A figure that however hides a certain irregularity Emmanuelle Wargon managed to hold its position for 22 months, compared to… only one month for Amelie de Montchalin forced to leave the ministry after being defeated in the 2022 legislative elections. And in a few days, the current Minister of Housing, Guillaume Kasbarian, could also leave his post.
While Guillaume Kasbarian has a good chance of winning the second round of the legislative elections in his constituency of Eure-et-Loir – thanks in particular to the withdrawal of the PFN candidate, Jean-François Bridet – he is clearly in a position of expulsion. If the National Rally obtains an absolute majority on Sunday, July 7, Emmanuel Macron will be forced to organize a coexistence with the far right. And Gabriel Attal’s government will not escape a reshuffle.
” A waste of time “
This political instability weighs on the morale of the real estate sector, which is going through a difficult time a serious crisis. “We will once again find ourselves with a blank sheet of paper,” breathes Danielle Dubrac, president of the Union of Real Estate Trade Unions (United). Because in the likely event that Guillaume Kasbarian were to leave his post after July 7, his successor will have to take charge of the files and quickly understand the challenges of the sector. “I hope that the next minister will not tell us that we are starting from scratch … I am willing to explain the issues relating to our sector for several days, but it is not a question of relaunching months of discussions. The observation It has been done for a long time and a number of measures have been proposed by the Housing Alliance (composed of developers, social landlords, architects, notaries, etc.), Editor’s note)”, annoys Pascal Boulanger, president of the Federation of French Real Estate Developers (FPI).
An annoyance all the more present as the National Assembly is dissolved led to the cessation of numerous parliamentary proceedings aimed at stemming the real estate crisis. For example, the long-awaited bill by Guillaume Kasbarian affordable housing it has been forgotten, just like the so-called “anti-Airbnb” law.. It remains to be seen whether the new government will again present similar bills, which will have to start from scratch at all costs. “It’s a waste of time. This instability will clearly have repercussions on the sector, which has been waiting for months for a concrete housing plan,” Danielle Dubrac says impatiently.
Highlighted accommodations in political parties
New construction, social housing, lending capacity at half-mast… While all the signals are red, The political parties, however, seem to have grasped the issue during this campaign expressed. The three main parties (NFP, Ensemble and RN) have in fact proposed at least two measures on housing, which have the merit of existing despite the many criticisms leveled against them by the sector. “Previously, housing was largely forgotten in the electoral campaign”, stresses Danielle Dubrac.
“The parties seem to understand that there is a major problem. After years without a clear direction from successive governments, this is good news,” commented Loïc Cantin, president of the French Real Estate Federation (Fnaim). A dig that refers in particular to Emmanuel Macron’s recent mea-culpa on student housing. “We will have to build with all the productive forces a real answer to this question because we have not made enough progress on this issue. I take responsibility for that,” he said last June. A few days later, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, did the same: “I readily admit that we have not done enough for housing,” he told Medef. “There has only been one Minister of the Economy during Emmanuel Macron’s two mandates, which perhaps explains the country’s good economic results,” Bruno Le Maire dared to say, questioned about the significant number of Housing Ministers in recent years.
While real estate agents are happy that the issue is being taken into consideration by politicians, the French seem less attentive. In any case, this is what emerges from our Harris Interactive x Toluna survey published Sunday, June 30. Only 10% of respondents said that housing issues mattered most in their vote in the first round of the legislative elections. Housing thus comes to 17And position of the issues that counted most in their vote. “This is not good news. However, housing was among the 10 priorities of the French at the beginning of the year (OpinionWay/Le Parisien)”, asks Pascal Boulanger. Unless we believe that it is once again a question of purchasing power, which is at the top of the list of concerns of the French.
In any case, after the results of the early legislative elections, real estate operators say they are “ready” to work with the new government and the newly elected officials. Whatever their political label.