• Since January 1, it is now prohibited to rent energy-intensive accommodation displaying an energy performance diagnosis (EPD) exceeding 450 kWh/year.

    In 2025, all G housing will follow, then F in 2028 and E in 2034.

  • To avoid getting stuck, some owners have already started energy renovation work and benefit from government aid or simply decide to sell to get rid of these thermal sieves.

  • In other cases, it is more complicated.

    As in Lyon, in the 6th arrondissement, where

    20 Minutes

    visited an apartment classified F in a building which requires major renovation work and where the owner is a 70-year-old retiree.

Double glazing on the windows but no controlled mechanical ventilation (VMC)... Result: humidity and mold invite themselves into the accommodation equipped with a single heat transfer fluid radiator for 40 m2.

"It will take two or three years of rental to offset the cost of the work invested", loose Sandrine Dumaine, rental manager of the Vincent Targe management in Lyon.

She takes care of the apartment of a 70-year-old retiree who inherited it from his mother.

In August, when the last tenants left, it was necessary to redo the energy performance diagnosis (DPE) which was no longer valid.

“It was a slap, comments Vincent Targe, the manager of the real estate agency that bears his name.

We went from B to F.” And for it to be on the rental market again, more than 30,000 euros of work are needed.



It is the only one of the 1,000 customers of the Lyon family company in this case.

“The owner changed management when the last occupants left,” explains the rental manager.

For two years, on our side, we have already identified the thermal strainers to undertake work and avoid this kind of situation.

In the Rhône, F-classified housing represents 6.8% of all housing and 5.1% for G-classified.

To sell or not to sell?

Some owners, faced with the scale of the work to be done to comply with standards, even preferred to part with their property.

According to the report of the Council of Notaries, sales of F and G classified housing represented 17% of transactions carried out in the third quarter of 2022 (compared to only 11% the previous year).

This is what could have happened for this apartment in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon managed by the Vincent Targe management.



“The owner is not eligible to receive aid from the government's MaPrimeRénov scheme, develops Sandrine Dumaine.

The advantage is that, even if he is retired, he has no loan for this apartment which was bequeathed to him by his mother.

It is because he is attached to the property that he accepted the estimate, otherwise he would have sold.

»

Loss of living space to renovate

And in this one-bedroom apartment, the list of desirable renovations is long, but the list of possibilities is weak.

“This is often the case when you are in a condominium, underlines Vincent Targe.

Anything that could be done outside, the roof for example, requires the agreement of the co-owners of the building.

Here, in this building which dates from the beginning of the 20th century, nothing will be undertaken collectively.

»

The choice then fell on interior insulation work, which involves cutting back on part of the living space.

"We want to optimize the heating system", explains Sandrine Dumaine.

She mimics the construction of walls on those existing in the main room and a false ceiling to prevent heat loss and reduce the surface to be heated.

“We had to make compromises.

We are on 10 to 12 cm lost, or 3 m2 in total, therefore more than 800 euros of work per m2, ”estimates the real estate professional.

In addition, a VMC will be created in the living room and the cumulus will be changed.

The manager is aware that this is “a lot” for profitability in terms of energy diagnosis which is “not huge”.

“Winning one or two ranks is already that.

We hope to be able to rent the property again within three months and avoid finding ourselves in trouble for too long,” confides Vincent Targe.

With the rent control of the Lyon metropolis, this accommodation should be rented around 613 €.

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  • Company

  • Lyons

  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

  • Lodging

  • Real estate

  • Bad housing

  • Energetic transition