With some 4.8 million energy sieves, the French housing stock needs renovations.

Between carrot and stick, the State of all means to encourage owners to undertake work.

The reform of the energy performance diagnosis, or DPE, which entered into force on July 1, 2021, is part of this strategy.

A comprehensive assessment

If the display of the DPE has been mandatory since 2006 for all real estate sales, and since 2007 for rentals, its result was far from always reliable, for lack of an objective and unified calculation method.

The new formula therefore straightens out the situation by eliminating the so-called “invoice” technique.

From now on, it is the method of conventional consumption, known as 3CL, which is generalized and reinforced. The diagnostician's assessment is therefore based on the physical characteristics of the dwelling, which are the frame, the heating system, the insulation, as well as the frames (windows and doors). Likewise, all consumption items are taken into account, including, and this is new, in terms of lighting and ventilation, while new weather scenarios and thermal phenomena are added to the equation.

In addition to obtaining the label rated from A to G, based on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, this new diagnostic formula also includes a price range estimating the annual energy bill from January 1. 2022. Finally, it can make recommendations for work to improve the performance level of the home.

Enforceability changes the game

In addition to being more complete, this new DPE becomes enforceable against third parties.

“Previously, this diagnosis was purely informative and therefore had no consequences if it turned out to be false.

From now on, the diagnostician must provide a result close to zero defect, otherwise the owner will be able to turn against him and demand damages in the event of an error ”, explains Olivier Colombet, president of Digit RE Group and spokesperson for the site real estate appraisal Drimki.fr.

According to the specialist, it is above all a real "sword of Damocles for sellers", since buyers will be able to disengage from the sales process if they discover that the diagnosis is wrong or, worse, take legal action a posteriori to contest the price paid and request compensation for their damage.

The calendar forces change

When considering a sale or rental of a home, the question is to know which regime you are subject to. And precisely, if the period of validity of the DPE remains ten years, it has been shortened for the old versions. The oldest diagnoses (carried out between 2013 and 2017) are only valid until the end of 2022, while those carried out between 2018 and the end of June 2021 are valid until the end of 2024. But, be careful, all real estate advertisements must display new information from the DPE (energy and climate label and estimate of the annual bill) from January 1, 2022.

On the buyers side, vigilance is more important than ever.

The government thus estimates that "among the dwellings that the previous diagnosis classifies at level C, 40% will be reclassified as B or D" with the new formula, while "certain dwellings classified F may be classified as E or vice versa".

To avoid unpleasant surprises, do not hesitate to demand, now, to consult the new formula diagnosis.

Medium-term consequences

If the old DPE had little impact on the price, the new version heralds a revolution in the real estate market, since it is only the first step in the toughening of legislation. By virtue of a decree published on January 13, 2021, it will no longer be possible to rent accommodation with a consumption of more than 450 kWh / m2 from 2023. In addition, the Climate and Resilience law of August 22, 2021 provides, among other things, for a ban on renting property classified as G in 2025, F in 2028, then E in 2034.

We will therefore have to do work as quickly as possible, otherwise we will end up with a devalued asset.

According to Olivier Colombet, a flood of degraded housing could thus be put up for sale by owners who have neither the desire nor the money to renovate, while a good number of homes are forced to leave the rental market once the deadlines past.

And the entrepreneur concludes: "We will have a somewhat complicated passage in the years to come to reconcile this policy of improving housing and combating global warming, with the lack of housing from which we are already suffering.

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