Window and household appliance sellers... These collateral victims of the housing crisis

Margaux Fodéré / Photo credits: OLIVIER MORIN / AFP 06:05 a.m., February 15, 2024, modified at 06:57 a.m., February 15, 2024

At the end of 2023, the window and door sector went through a downturn. Its activity fell by 15%, a decline which has worsened since the start of 2024. One consequence among others concerning the housing crisis. Sellers of windows and household appliances... are collateral victims of the housing crisis.

Building professionals are meeting this Thursday with the Ministers of Housing and Ecological Transition to make their demands heard. On the program: MaPrimeRenov, state aid for energy renovation work.

Since January 1, it has been refocused on overall housing renovations, because until then, it mainly covered small jobs. But it's slipping. The new formula does not appeal as much as hoped.

The subject is all the more important as the sector has been going through a crisis for several months. A crisis which is not confined to housing and has collateral victims: sectors such as household appliances. 

Sales of large household appliances down 7%

On the figures side, sales of large household appliances are down 7%. And the logic lies in one thing: the French move less, due to lack of being able to buy mechanically, so they buy fewer ovens, refrigerators or even dishwashers. As a result, sales of these household appliances are struggling.

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-7% in volume last year, explains Magali Saint-Laurent, marketing-communication manager at the GFK institute. “One in three real estate purchase projects has been canceled or postponed due to the economic context. And in the same way a kitchen or bathroom renovation project has also been postponed or canceled. And we know that large household appliances are particularly linked to this construction or real estate activity,” she explains.

Another sector affected by the housing crisis: window and door manufacturers are also weighed down by the postponement of real estate projects.

“We’re stopping overtime”

At the end of 2023, the sector went through a downturn: its activity fell by 15%. Unheard of since the 1990s, says Philippe Macquart of the Union of Carpentry Manufacturers, who is worried about the dramatic consequences on employment.

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“We stopped temporary work in 2023, we stopped overtime. In some factories we even had requests for partial activity because the workload is not sufficient to occupy all the employees. The next step, if it were to be taken, would lead to job destruction and inevitable layoffs,” adds Philippe Macquart.

Between November 2022 and November 2023, the construction sector lost nearly 8,000 temporary jobs, according to DARES. To redress the situation, professionals are calling on the government to reform MaPrimeRenov because, according to them, it no longer encourages the French to do simple work such as changing windows.