Build 5,000 homes per year. These are the ambitions of the Local Housing Program (PLH) of Rennes Métropole. The objective? Respond to demographic forecasts which announce 100,000 additional inhabitants in the Metropolis by 2050. To achieve this, the PLH 2023-2028 is continuing its programs in concerted development zones (ZAC) – on land which belongs to the community – according to a well-oiled distribution between social rental, social accessions, free and regulated. [Retrouvez le dossier spécial immobilier dans le dernier numéro du
Mensuel de Rennes]
The mantra? Densification, to preserve the “archipelago city” model and anticipate zero net artificialization (zan). It provides, until 2050, for a gradual ban on concreting agricultural or natural land.
To these traditional recipes, the new PLH has added another “in-house” measure: the generalization of real joint tenancy. The stated goal? Lower the cost of housing, respond to the social emergency, to the problems of access to housing for the middle classes (read previous page), while fighting against speculation.
Contain case
An “interventionist” position which contains damage according to Honoré Puil. “The very strong action of the community makes it possible to limit the damage in Rennes – reduction of 38% in promotional sales between 2022 and 2023 -, puts the vice-president in charge of housing at the Metropolis into perspective. In Nantes, it’s -60%, in Bordeaux, -47%…”
And too bad if some real estate professionals see these policies as a hammer blow to the hand of the free market. “We are trying to oppose social parks, public and private,” denounced, to applause, Danièle Dubrac at the opening of the Unis congress in Rennes, on October 12. The president of the Union of Real Estate Unions reacted to a column by Nathalie Appéré published the day before in Le Monde. The mayor of Rennes warned: “Housing is too serious a matter to be left to the market. »
In the Breton capital, however, developers – who support community projects – welcome the measure rather positively. Will the BRS make it possible to restart the machine? “In ZAC, there are still floor prices which remain higher than those we had before,” explains Nolwenn Lam Kermarrec, co-president of Kermarrec promotion. Land is not the alpha and omega of everything. »
54% of housing
One thing is certain, the covid crisis, followed by that of real estate, put a stop to the purchase of ZAC housing. They represented, according to the Rennes Urban Planning Agency, an annual average of 54% of housing sold between 2013 and 2018 in Rennes. This share fell to 43% between 2019 and 2023. More broadly, the housing production objectives were not achieved in 2024 according to Audiar projections, which expects just over 4,000 housing units to be delivered.
With a budget of 300 million, the new PLH could also be strongly impacted by the contribution of communities to repair the uncontrolled spiral of the public deficit. “What will happen if they take 15 million from us? », asks Honoré Puil. As if the crisis wasn't enough.
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