top of page
rpwills

France - tant de logements vacants France - so many vacant dwellings!

Summary
Some supporters of the ‘we must build more houses’ consider that England should emulate France in increasing the house building rate. Comparing UK house-building rates in terms of the gross % change in relation to total stock it is stated “The UK ranks towards the bottom of this list, seeing only 1.9 per cent growth in the number of homes every year, much less than France with 2.3 per cent annual growth in housing stock, and West Germany and the Netherlands on 3 per cent growth in housing stock every year.”  [ Watling, S, Breach, A, February 2023,Centre for Cities, The house building crisis, The UK's 4 million missing homes.]
 
If we look at the data on households compared to dwellings, we find that the countries of the UK all have more dwellings than households and that the figure for France is higher. The most recent data suggests that whereas in England there are 6.4% more dwellings than households the figure for France is 8.6%. The Netherlands appears as an anomaly here, a high growth rate yet it appears not to have a surplus.  Figures for a range of European countries are shown in Table 1.

 

Households

Dwellings

Surplus

Surplus

Country

N

N

N

%

Austria

4.068

4.952

0.9

21.7

Belgium

5.055

5.514

0.5

9.1

Denmark

2.8

3.2

0.4

14.3

France

31.05

33.721

2.7

8.6

Germany

40.9

43.1

2.2

5.4

Netherlands

8.043

8.046

0.0

0.0

Norway

2.581

2.67

0.1

3.4

Portugal

4.14

5.968

1.8

44.2

Spain

18.886

25.793

6.9

36.6

Sweden

4.832

5.096

0.3

5.5

England

23.42

24.928

1.5

6.4

Northern Ireland

0.769

0.814

0.0

5.9

Scotland

2.529

2.67

0.1

5.6

Wales

1.347

1.472

0.1

9.3

Cornwall

250

285

0.035

14.0

[Figures in millions with exception of Cornwall which are in ‘000 thousand].
 
There is a problem with using gross % change in relation to total stock, as it does not take account of losses to stock. The net % change is more relevant, but never mind. 
 
If we look at France what do we find? Well there are various figures in the literature ranging from 2.8 million to 3.1million. The data indicate that the number of vacant dwellings have increased over time, a similar situation to that  in the UK. Vacant properties inclde second homes, those that are frictionally empty (between owners or renters), long-term vacant, investor property.  As to why France has so many vacant properties – several factors may play a part including the rise in second homes and investment properties, houses in need of renovation, reluctance by landlords to rent due to the tenancy rules and a lack of demand for certain properties. It has been suggested that tax breaks for new build properties may encourage people to build new dwellings rather than use old dwellings.
 
What does it mean?
The high level of vacant dwellings in France is a sign of a dysfunctional housing market, representing a misuse of resources - there are carbon costs in building and maintaining more houses than required and obviously land is developed for the additional dwellings.  A high level of vacant properties which are unavailable for people to live effectively reduces the supply to French residents in need of housing. Those who consider the higher level of house building a positive indicator are encouraging a mis-allocation of resources, misunderstand housing markets and are effectively just pro-housing growth at any price.
 
Background
How many vacant homes?
“The number of homes currently vacant in France sits at around 3.1 million, reveals new data from French statistical body Insee. This equates to 8.2% of France’s total housing stock (of 37.6 million homes), and has increased by 60% since 1990, when less than 4% of properties were vacant” https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Where-are-France-s-3-million-empty-homes-and-why-so-many
 
“around 2.8 million, equivalent to 8% of the housing stock. The vacancy rate has risen steadily since the late 1990s (6.9% in 1999 and 7.2% in 2010) ending a continuous decline during the 1980s and 1990s (7.6% in 1982 and 7.2% in 1990)”.[Property Market,  2021].
 
“There’s now 107,000 vacant homes, representing 7.5% of all residential dwellings in the city according to France’s INSEE”. [https://betterdwelling.com/vacant-homes-global-epidemic-paris-fighting-60-tax/]
 
“In the census carried out by INSEE, vacancy covers a wider area that includes frictional vacancy, that is to say short-term vacancies linked to owners or tenants changing, as well as housing waiting for an  inheritance settlement or that kept by an employer for future use by an employee, etc.”  [https://www.apur.org/en/our-works/18-600-housing-units-paris-are-vacant-long-term-basis]
 
Why so many vacant properties in France?
“In some cases, these are simply properties waiting for relocation or undergoing renovation. In others, homes remain unoccupied because they are located in less attractive areas, are too expensive, or do not fit the market.” [ https://www.studapart.com/en/inside-the-culture/housing-crisis-france-there-housing-shortage].
 
“The study found that over the past few decades, the main driver for an increase in total unoccupied homes has been an increase in the proportion of second homes. Between 1975 and 2020, vacant properties went up by two percentage points, while the proportion of second homes rose by six percentage points”.11 Dec 2023
 
“The reasons for such a high vacancy rate are not given but must result primarily from a mismatch between supply and demand in certain areas, and the poor condition of a great deal of the older housing stock. Other factors will include delays in the processing of a succession following death of the occupant, and properties left empty by owners who may be reluctant to offer the property for letting due to French landlord and tenant laws”. [https://www.french-property.com/news/french_property_market/empty_homes_by_commune, 2021].
 
 
“Empty houses” is an inefficient use of essential resources and can also have a negative impact on security, community, and economic activity in neighbourhoods. Some homes are empty most of the year because they are only used intermittently as holiday accommodation other vacant homes fall into the hands of accidental landlords via inheritance or are accumulated by speculative investors”  [https://www.housing2030.org/project/taxing-vacant-housing-based-on-potential-rental-income-in-france/].
 
“For investors, newbuild offers a true turnkey investment. The French government has had a policy of encouraging investment in newbuild housing for decades by offering French residents tax breaks, and that means developers are used to selling to investors as well as occupants”. [https://www.properstar.ch/buying-property/france/pros-and-cons-for-new-construction]
35 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page