Nearly 500 companies filing for bankruptcy in 2024and more than 1,500 jobs disappearing. These are the worrying figures communicated by the French Building Federation this Thursday, October 3 for the entire Pays de la Loire region. A year which therefore turns out to be very complicated for the entire sector, which had not experienced such a situation for five yearssince 2019.
Indicators in the red
For now, the deleted positions are especially temporary positions“the first valve to blow“, a business leader confided to us. “We are keeping our workforce of full-time employees, the concern does not relate to that“, confides Hélène Bourcier, the president of the Building Federation in Pays de la Loire. It is the perspective of the months to come which raises more questions. “We are in the dark on that side. All factors are on the decline, and we can expect a difficult year in 2025”.
It must be said that the indicators are in the red at the moment. Administrative burdens for developers, interest rates which have remained at their highest for a long time, etc. The economy is not good at the moment, and professionals already knew it for months. The problem is that the order book is also starting to dry up for many companies. “Perspectives are sometimes made on a weekly basis, for the week that comes behind“, according to Emmanuel Alland. He is the head of the Pété company in Bournezeau. “We play with temporary workers, who, depending on the period, come to us. The fear of an empty notebook exists“.
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Another fear with this delicate situation is the fear of payment defaults on the part of those requesting works, whether they are developers, social landlords or even individuals. The Building Federation has only identified a few rare cases so far in Vendée and Loire-Atlantique, but the subject still remains relevant.
The Federation now hopes to obtain guarantees and aid for the future, particularly with the arrival of a new government, as for the PTZ, the Zero Rate Loan, a real estate loan with no administration fees and whose interest is at the burden of the State. Another reason for hope is the hoped-for return to lower interest rates, after years of increases.
