• The city of Montpellier sets up, from July 1, a framework for rents.

  • From now on, the owners will not be able to exceed by more than 20% the reference rents fixed each year by the prefecture.

    "A response to those who abuse", for the mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse (PS).

  • The Fnaim 34, it is against the measure.

    "This will profoundly disrupt the rental offer in Montpellier", regrets Thomas Brée, its president.

    Because the small owners, who will no longer be able to assume the repayment of their loans, risk selling.

    And the city risks allowing its status as investment land.

It no longer surprises anyone: in Montpellier (Hérault), rents are expensive.

Far too expensive.

According to 2021 figures from the Rent Observatory, the median rent, in the capital of Hérault, is 13.2 euros per m2.

After Île-de-France, Nice and the border with Switzerland, it is the territory where rents are the most expensive in France, ahead of Toulouse, Bordeaux, Marseille and Strasbourg.

But 13.2 euros per m2 is only the median rent in the Hérault capital.

For studios, mostly inhabited by students, the receipts show up to 17.3 euros per m2, in Montpellier.

The problem is that the town also beats records for unemployment or low income.

In an attempt to find (slightly) more reasonable price levels, the municipality, which had the green light from the State in 2021, will experiment, from July 1, with a rent control.

“A response to those who abuse”

Thus, owners will no longer be able to exceed by more than 20% the reference rents set each year by the prefecture.

These figures will be calculated according to the geographical area (there will be five sectors, in Montpellier), but also the number of rooms, its year of construction and its type (empty or furnished).

It is, for Michaël Delafosse (PS), “a response to those who abuse, who are unreasonable, and who weaken part of the inhabitants of the territory”.

The metropolis of Montpellier has developed a simulator, accessible to tenants and owners, on its site (here), to find out if the rent paid or collected is within the nails.

“If ever [the tenant] considers that the rent is abnormally high, he can report it,” notes the mayor.

And even request reimbursement of undue amounts.

If the lessor does not move, he can be fined from 5,000 euros (for individuals) to 15,000 euros (for legal persons).

Please note that some accommodation is not affected by this measure, in particular accommodation managed by an HLM organization or seasonal rentals.

Owners “will sell”

For its part, the National Federation of Real Estate (Fnaim) of Hérault is opposed to the rent control launched by the city.

“This will profoundly disrupt the rental offer in Montpellier, regrets its president, Thomas Brée, joined by

20 Minutes.

It is mainly small surfaces, studios, T1 and T2, which will be impacted.

According to this professional, who conducted a study on the impact of the measure, the owners will have to face a drop in rents of 100 euros per month.

"Quite simply, they will sell, because, for the most part, they will no longer be able to meet the loans they have contracted to make this rental investment", notes Thomas Brée.

And the accommodations risk escaping the traditional rental circuit.

Another risk, Montpellier could well lose its status as a "land of rental investments", in favor of Béziers or Nîmes, assures the president of Fnaim 34. The federation is all the more angry as it deplores not having been consulted by the municipality before the implementation of this measure.

The mayor dismisses the fears of the owners.

"To those who think it's going to be the apocalypse, in Paris and Lille [where rent control was put in place in 2019 and 2020], the cities have not collapsed, details Michaël Delafosse.

Did that scare investors away, in Paris and Lille?

According to initial feedback, no.

What would drive investors away is if, one day, the economic situation were catastrophic.

»

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