The government has published a decree prohibiting the rental of apartments considered by energy strainers from 2023. Nearly five million homes are affected by this measure, which is accompanied by renovation bonuses to improve their energy diagnosis.

DECRYPTION

This is the start of a hunt for energy waste by the government: a decree prohibiting the rental of apartments identified as the worst "energy strainers" by 2023 was published on Wednesday January 13, as revealed by

Le Figaro 

this week. last.

This is the first of three stages in the removal of the "energy sieves" that the government wants to implement by 2028. Fanny Agostini, columnist for the morning of Europe 1, analyzes the implications of this measure. 

What are "energy strainers"?

"Energy strainers" are those flats with holes all over it, just like a strainer that lets heat escape.

They collect a mediocre classification, F and G, with the diagnosis of energy performance.

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They are often very poorly insulated and therefore induce a very high carbon footprint.

This measure concerns apartments whose energy consumption exceeds 450 kWh per square meter per year.

They will now be banned for rental after December 31, 2022. In France, there are 4.8 million "energy strainers", of which 2 million are rented.

Ads in real estate agencies for these rentals will be censored by the government.

How will owners and tenants be supported?

For direct rentals, tenants will have a legal recourse to compel landlords to carry out renovations.

These renovations allow savings: the Ministry of Housing estimates that tenants can save on average 100 euros per month. 

To encourage homeowners to do this work, renovation bonuses will be made available this summer.

For the moment, it is only owner-occupiers and condominium associations who have had access to them, but the State makes them available to rental companies to allow them to anticipate the energy deadlines of 2023.

Why is the government adopting this measure?

Getting rid of energy sieves by the end of the decade is one of the objectives adopted by the Citizen's Climate Convention.

The government is therefore seeking to give credibility to its ecological claims.

He is committed to announcing the rental criteria for more stringent energy strainers for 2025. This will have to be kept in mind, because the 2023 target is not very ambitious.

If the 2025 target is also too low, it will be difficult for France to keep the commitment to remove all "energy sieves" in 2028 and thus stay within the nails of the Paris climate agreement.