Nearly 60% of the 718 landlords surveyed by LocService, a rental platform between individuals, would change their plans if rent control was generalized. The owners who responded to the platform’s survey are “small owners who have an average of 1.5 properties and who have invested for their retirement», specifies Richard Horbette, the founder of LocService.fr.
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This experimental device, included in the Moose law of 2018, prohibits landlords from setting a rent exceeding a ceiling and applies in municipalities located in tight areas such as Paris, Lille, Lyon. It is about to be extended for three years via the “3DS” bill, relating to differentiation, decentralization, deconcentration and simplification, by allowing new communities to test this measure.
There are a plethora of presidential candidates advocating a generalization of rent control, like Christiane Taubira who declared that a “general framework for rents“was necessary in order to stop”indecency» offers on the private park or from Fabien Roussel (PCF) or even from the candidate of the socialist party Anne Hidalgo who proposes an extension of the rent control in all the tense areas this time.
30% of owners want to resell their property
From owners-landlords who answered the question “more and more cities are adopting rent control. How would you react if it were widespread?”, 30% would like to resell their property, 18% would like to abandon their investment project, 11% would reorient themselves towards tourist rental, i.e. nearly 60% in total, a “skin reaction», for Richard Horbette. In addition, 38% of owners would not change anything in their habits. Please note that the percentages have been rounded, so it is normal not to arrive exactly at 100 when adding them.
According to LocService, “a generalization of rent control in France is likely to have significant counterproductive effects on the rental supply and, paradoxically, it is the tenants who will be the first to be penalized.” Richard Horbette ensures that if the number of offers decreases, the tenant will suffer since he will encounter difficulties in finding accommodation.
Despite the implementation of rent control in Lille, the city has seen its level of rental tension (ratio between the number of requests and the number of housing units) increase and Lyon has remained at an equivalent level according to the platform. “He therefore seems that the real subject is the rental tension rather than the presence or not of a rent control», Alerts the platform.
The volume of supply available in question
For its founder, the root of the problem comes from the volume of supply available. “It is therefore important to send the right signals not only to build in really tense areas, but also to maintain the confidence of private investors who hold nearly a quarter of the housing stock in France (Insee)“, he underlines.
Rent control would therefore be a “additional disabilityaccording to Richard Horbette, in addition to the upcoming ban on renting thermal sieves, which risks scaring away investors. As purchase prices are increasing, if the increase in the purchase price cannot be transferred to the asking rent in cities where rent control is the norm, “excessively low profitability could block certain rental investment projects, or redirect them towards the seasonal rental sectorwarns LocService. It recommends curbing the development of tourist rentals in the centers of medium and large cities, “which mechanically increase the rents of long-term rentals by effect of scarcity.Remember that Bordeaux and Montpellier will also cap rents for private housing in 2022.