Clément Lesaffre, edited by Thibaud Le Meneec 3:17 p.m., September 3, 2021

Three new cities will apply the rent control system from the beginning of 2022. Put in place, reworked and then reinstated in Paris and Lille, this system has made it possible to stabilize or even reduce the prices charged on the real estate market, with however some caveats.

The rental framework, which already exists in Lille and Paris, will be extended in early 2022 to three new cities, namely Lyon, Bordeaux and Montpellier.

This device is supposed to prevent soaring rental prices and escape the law of supply and demand.

To know if this measure can be useful in these large provincial towns, it is necessary to look concretely on past experiences and the influence of the framework on the price of rents.

Rent reduction of 1% in Paris

In Paris, the rent control was canceled by the courts at the end of 2017, then reinstated in mid-2019.

Over this period of almost two years without supervision, rents increased by 5%.

Since the system was reinstated, they have fallen by just over 1%.

This is not due to the regulation of rents, there is also an increase in purchases, but the measure has played a role.

>> Find all the newspapers of the editorial staff of Europe 1 in replay and podcast here

In Lille, where this measure was canceled in 2017, rents have increased by 4% in two and a half years.

Since the reinstatement of the framework, at the beginning of 2020, there has been no drop in rents, but already a stabilization of market prices in a metropolis one hour from Paris.

What about controls?

If you look at a tenant's point of view, rent control is a good thing.

It does not lead to a drastic drop in rents, of course, but it prevents a surge in prices.

However, in the three cities which were selected by the government for this second phase, there was a need to put a brake on: in four years, rents increased by 4% in Montpellier, by 10% in Bordeaux and even 22% in Lyon. 

There are, however, two shadows on the board.

First, the lack of control, with town halls unable to sanction owners who do not respect the law.

So there are abuses in some areas.

Rent control decreases the yield of real estate and this can therefore push investors back to the cities where it is set up.