Thirteen years after the famous “simplification shock” desired by François Hollande and two months after the Minister of the Economy promised one simplification bill per year to “be careful that the hydra of complexity does not take back its place“, this is the theme that was chosen for one of the round tables of the 52nd congress of the Federation of Real Estate Developers (FPI), on June 27 at the Cité des Exchanges in Marcq-en-Barœul.
If last year Bruno Le Maire mentioned four avenues in the face of the construction crisis – adjustment of certain constraints on credit, support for the separation between land and buildings, order for 17,000 new housing units including 5,000 social housing units by 2023 , greening of the zero-rate loan (PTZ) and confirmation of the disappearance of the Pinel system at the end of 2024-, this year Bercy did not intervene. Xavier Bertrand took part in this annual meeting, demanding, in the face of the housing crisis – the central theme of the day -, a decentralization of this competence towards the region. The president of Hauts-de-France also spoke of the need for a “supply shock» to relieve the mayors, but also a “moratorium on standards».
«All this is incomprehensible to elected officials»
Following in his footsteps, Gilles Carrez, president of the National Council for the Evaluation of Standards (CNEN), Amel Gacquerre, senator from Pas-de-Calais and regional councilor, Violette Spillebout, municipal councilor of Lille, Virginie Leroy, president of Vinci real estate and Bernard Gérard, mayor of Marcq-en-Barœul, have in turn depicted a construction sector asphyxiated by a regulatory straitjacket. To the question “Can simplification save housing?”, they unanimously responded in the affirmative, denouncing, in front of an audience of a few hundred members of the FPI and other public and private actors in the sector, what is similar to a “normati carnivalf”, in the words of the mayor of Marcq-en-Barœul. The latter also noted a “scarcity of available lande”. And denounced for example the zero net artificialization law (ZAN) of August 22, 2021, whose text of July 20, 2023 tends to facilitate the implementation by local elected officials.
«I am horrified», insisted Gilles Carrez, noting a “collective helplessness” facing “surge of nearly 300 texts per year relating to housing, construction or town planning». «Alur, Elan, Climat resilience… the law has become more complex, we want to deal with everything in the smallest detail»… «We are facing an avalanche of standards“, he summed up.All this is incomprehensible to elected officials. We have to go with the axe, we need a moratorium on standards“, he further estimated, judging the latter “not impossible“on condition of asking the government to delegalise certain provisions.”Real estate development stakeholders have put a package of proposed measures on the table. There are so many that everyone knows them now. We must remove this shackles», added Virginie Leroy, president of Vinci real estate. Energy diagnostics, rent control, standards… Violette Spillebout said for her part “very popular with small owners who want to get out» by dint of being put «faced with contradictory injunctions».
Decentralization
Asked what avenues could be followed, Amel Gacquerre testified to the fact that this year, no less than four texts were voted on. “There is a demand for standards“, she analyzed. And the speakers denounced in this regard a certain judicialization and increasingly numerous abusive appeals which “must be sanctioned“The senator, who regretted that the bill relating to the development of affordable housing supply was on hold due to the dissolution of the National Assembly, asked “a major housing law» but also, like Xavier Bertrand and the speakers, the decentralization of this skill. “Our territories are infinitely diverse. We need to regionalize. Until we decentralize, the situation will not change.», summarized Gilles Carrez.
