Some 2,000 municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants which experience a marked imbalance between supply and demand for housing on their territory will now also be able to increase the housing tax on secondary residences and apply a tax on vacant housing.
This possibility, recorded by a decree published on Saturday in Official newspaper, was until now reserved for agglomerations of more than 50,000 inhabitants. The tax on vacant housing and the surcharge on second homes aim to facilitate access to housing for people who live year-round in these often tourist towns, by dissuading owners from putting their accommodation up for short-term rental on platforms such as ‘Airbnb.
“With this decree, in these municipalities, vacant housing will now be taxed to encourage their owner to put them back on the market”, commented the Minister Delegate for Housing Patrice Vergriete on Twitter, renamed “X”.
Brianon, Narbonne, Saint-Tropez…
Initially expected for the beginning of 2023, the decree gives 2,000 additional municipalities the possibility of increasing the tax on secondary residences, he assured. Among the municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants now entitled to surcharge secondary residences are Brianon, Narbonne or Saint-Tropez.
“For these municipalities, the real estate tension is characterized in particular by the high level of rents or the acquisition prices of old housing as well as by the high proportion of housing allocated to housing other (…) than the main one”, underlines the decree.
In mid-July, the government had estimated that the number of municipalities classified as extended areas and able to apply a surcharge on vacant housing and secondary residences would triple to end around 3,700 agglomerations.
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