At the end of the suspense, the cap on the increase in rents which was to stop on June 30 was extended by Parliament.
With forceps. By a final vote of the Assembly on Wednesday, Parliament approved, not without difficulty, the extension of a ceiling on the rise in rents.
The bill presented by the Renaissance majority renews a shield which caps 3.5% on the rise in the reference rent index (IRL). Established in the summer of 2022, it was to end on June 30, which led the presidential camp to act urgently.
As a result, in a context of sharp price increases and a sluggish housing market, the system has been extended until the first quarter of 2024. With the hope of inflation returning below the 3.5 % in the second quarter, according to Thomas Cazenave, the Renaissance deputy who carried the text.
Inflation slowed in May, 5.1% over one year, (but) we still need to protect and support, argued in the Chamber the Minister Delegate for SMEs Olivia Grgoire
The rapporteur of the text had alerted against a flight of rents of around 6% in July in the event of non-renewal of the measure. A similar device will also cap the increase in the commercial rent index (ILC), for SMEs, until the first quarter of 2024.
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A text that is far from unanimous
For their part, the deputies on the left did not pass the law, preferring a freeze or a very strong limitation of the rise in the rent index rather than a ceiling of +3.5%. According to them, this would act as a green light given to the owners to apply new increases. The presidential camp and the government for their part brandished the threat of censure by the Constitutional Council in the event of a rent freeze.
After two successful passages in the Assembly but as many setbacks in the Senate, it was the lower house which therefore played its role of ultimate arbiter by definitively adopting the text. In the Senate, the rapporteur LR Dominique Estrosi-Sassone denounced: concerning the method, I make a fivefold observation of lack of preparation, haste, lack of evaluation, lack of consultation, lack of financial support for the actors.