The number of building permits continued to decline in June in France, hitting a record low since at least 2015, according to provisional data published on Tuesday 30 July by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Between July 2023 and June 2024, 347,900 housing units were registered authorized for construction or 15.3% less than the previous 12 months.
A new construction is taken in a serious crisis. Construction costs have increased significantly due to more expensive materials and stricter environmental standards. At the same time, buyers have suffered from rising interest rates and reduced government support schemes for new properties.
This is starting to have an effect on employment, several promoters have announced social plans while smaller players file for bankruptcy. Nexity reported an 18% drop in revenue in the first half of the year. France’s largest developer announced the imminent sale of its property management business. The French Construction Federation fears 90,000 job losses by the end of 2024, then 150,000 by mid-2025.
In detail, individual homes were the subject of 124,600 authorizations (-18.1%), while collective housing obtained 223,300 (-13.7%). Within collective housing, residences (students, seniors, etc.) fared slightly better with a decrease of -6.6% against the -15.4% of ordinary collective housing.
Hauts-de-France and Brittany fared a little better than the other French regions, with drops of 1.4% and 5% respectively. The most tense regions, Île-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Centre-Val de Loire, recorded significant drops in permits issued with -21.1%, 21.1% and -23.5% respectively.
The number of construction sites started, which traditionally follows the number of building permits, also continues to fall, with 272,800 construction starts between July 2023 and June 2024, a drop of -21.8%, a historically very low number. The ministry warns, however, that this latter figure is more questionable due to a more fragmented collection of data on the start of works.