The Ministry of Housing convenes, as a matter of urgency, this Monday, June 27, the National Housing Council (CNH), an advisory body bringing together the actors of housing, with, among other things, on the menu, the revaluation of rents. The tenants’ associations hoped for a rent freeze, for a year or two, as suggested to them by the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, during a meeting on May 17. But the measure finally submitted for debate by the CNH rather responds to the expectations of landlords, both private and social: setting the evolution of rents at 3.5%, which corresponds to the expected value of their revaluation index (IRL ) of the second quarter, to be published on July 15.
No anti-inflationary gesture, therefore, on the part of the government: on an average monthly rent of 650 euros, such a revaluation represents an increase of 22.75 euros, or 273 euros per year, an additional cost which is added to all the others, for the most modest among the 14 million tenant households.
Housing aid increased from July 1
The evolution of the IRL worries consumer associations insofar as it reflects, albeit with a delay, the consumer price index, excluding tobacco and rents, smoothed over twelve months. However, inflation has been accelerating since January 2022. From +5.6% in March, expected to reach +6.8% by December according to INSEE, it should, over the year, settle at +5, 5%. Its impact on the IRL has already been felt at +2.49% in the first quarter, +3.5% in the second quarter and should exceed +5% in the third quarter.
As a consolation, the cap on the rise in rents at 3.5%, which will be the subject of an article in the amending finance bill scheduled for July, would apply until July 2023. personalized accommodation should be upgraded from 1er July, not the 1er October as usual, also by 3.5% which, for the State budget, represents an additional expenditure of 168 million euros.
Jean-Yves Mano, president of the association Consumption, housing and living environment (CLCV), protests nevertheless:
“We do not understand the abandonment of the rent freeze which has the immense advantage of costing the State nothing and of participating in the fight against inflation, while the government has not hesitated to freeze the incomes of pensioners and civil servants and even to reduce housing allowances, the revaluation of which is envisaged today is far from affecting all tenants and only compensates, of course, for part of the rent. This bodes ill for the law on purchasing power and its adoption by a majority of deputies. »