Lodging. The rents of energy strainers frozen from this Wednesday, here is what changes – Ouest-France

The hunt for “energy sieves” is open. The “Climate and Resilience” law aims to encourage and then compel landlords to carry out renovation work for dwellings that have an energy performance diagnosis (DPE) class F or G. What changes from August 24? It is now impossible for the owners of a rental accommodation whose energy performance diagnosis is classified F or G, to increase the rent of their property. This blocking applies to new rental contracts and contracts in progress, renewed or tacitly renewed. Furnished and unfurnished rented accommodation is concerned. This is the first step in the timetable decided by the “Climate and Resilience” law to encourage owners to renovate these homes, nicknamed “energy sieves”, which consume a lot of energy due to lack of insulation and adequate heating system. . To justify a rent increase, the lessor must therefore demonstrate that the accommodation is classified E or better. How many energy sieves in France? According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, there would be 5.2 million homes classified F or G out of the 30 million main residences (i.e. 17% of the stock of main residences). Including second homes and vacant homes, their number has even been revised upwards by the ministry to 7.2 million. “And around 500,000 of the dwellings would be very energy-intensive, with an annual final energy consumption of more than 450 kWh/m²/year”, specifies the report. For the latter, their rental will be prohibited from January 1, 2023. “It is estimated that there would be 140,000 very energy-intensive housing units in the private rental stock, 50,000 in the social rental stock. But in total, 1.7 million F and G classified homes are currently rented in the private rental stock. What are the next steps ? Owners of a G-rated rental have a lot to worry about, especially if the overall energy consumption of the property exceeds 450 kWh/m2 per year. Their property will no longer be considered decent for rental from January 1, 2023. Clearly, around 190,000 homes will be prohibited for rental. As of January 1, 2025, all G-class accommodation can no longer be rented. Will follow on January 1, 2028, class F housing. And on January 1, 2034, all class E housing. Read also: The mandatory energy audit when selling a “thermal strainer” postponed to April 2023

What impact for owners? “Landlords will see the rise in their rents frozen. A lot of people are going to be caught off guard. Some have already anticipated and sold their properties but they are trading down. Some owners do not have the means to undertake energy renovation work and find themselves in a dead end,” explains Éric Allouche, director of the Era real estate network. An opinion shared by Arnaud Couvelard, lawyer at Unpi, an association for the defense of real estate property. “Doing work when a tenant is already in place is not easy. We see a lot of disillusioned owners. Obligations were put in place when the tools were not effective, ”he believes, referring to the DPE, whose calculation method has been revised several times.

Where are the energy strainers in the West? According to namR, a company that relied on data from Ademe, among the major Breton cities, Quimper, Lorient, Vannes, Rennes and Brest, have the highest ratio of housing classified E, F or G. In Pays de la Loire, Le Mans, Saint-Nazaire, La Roche-sur-Yon, Cholet and Angers are also among the bad students. In Normandy, it is in Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre and Rouen that the share of energy strainers in the building stock is the highest. What is the validity date of the DPE? It must have been carried out for less than ten years. The DPE criteria having been recently revised, those which were carried out before December 31, 2017 must be renewed before December 31, 2022. Those which were carried out before June 30, 2021 must be renewed before December 31, 2024. a landlord who does not respect the law? To see his tenant turn against him. “If the lessor increases the rent for a dwelling classified F or G, the tenant can invoke article 20 of the law of July 6, 1989, which provides that he can seize the departmental commission of conciliation”, specifies Arnaud Couvelard. In the case of increased rents, the tenant can claim a refund of the overpaid sums. chevron_leftchevron_right