The challenges of combating fuel poverty in the Yvelines department

The building sector has a central role to play in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In France, it constitutes the second sector that emits the most greenhouse gases. It alone represents 27% of CO emissions2 and nearly 45% of final energy consumption according to figures from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion. The energy renovation of housing is therefore a national priority. Renovating the entire residential stock to BBC level for 2050 corresponds to a large-scale massification effort. “However, households do not all have the same financial capacity to undertake work, and some have fallen into energy poverty,” underlines a recent study by L’Institut Paris Région (L’Institut Paris Région, Energy renovation of housing : why is it slipping? April 2023).

Energy vulnerability in France

In France, around 3.4 million households, or 11.7% of households, are affected by energy poverty according to the national energy poverty observatory (ONPE). Loans and financial aid to carry out work improving the energy performance of these homes: in order to stop this phenomenon, public authorities are mobilizing. While taking concrete action for the climate, carrying out energy renovation work makes it possible to improve the comfort of homes and reduce the energy bill of their residents. According to INSEE figures, for 7.5% of Ile-de-France households, the heating bill represents more than 8% of income. This energy vulnerability affects half as many households as at the national level due to higher incomes and smaller housing in Île-de-France. However, the housing stock there is particularly energy-intensive. Vulnerable households mostly live below the poverty line and most often occupy housing considered to be a thermal sieve. Remember that two out of three Ile-de-France residences are energy-intensive (label E) or very energy-intensive (label F or G) according to INSEE figures. Two thirds of the most energy-intensive homes are located in Paris and the inner suburbs. These are most generally old homes built before 1974, before the first thermal regulations.

A challenge for the Yvelines department

The greater crown is not spared from these difficulties. For the Yvelines department, the subject is strategic. The real estate stock there is relatively mixed. In the northeast, the department is very urbanized. To the southwest, it is more rural and wooded. According to figures from the HEERO energy renovation platform, the housing stock is made up of 22% energy-efficient housing, compared to 12% energy-efficient housing. The latter are more focused on the rural part of the department. The presence of RGE-certified companies authorized to carry out energy renovation work is more sparse. The latter, which represent only 3% of all artisans in the department, are in fact rather located in the north-east of the department (Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Versailles, Sartrouville, etc.). The municipalities with many energy-intensive housing units (Lommoye, Favrieux, Orsonville, etc.) are located more to the west of the department. And even in the north-east of the department, certain towns whose buildings are very old and difficult to renovate due to their architectural and heritage characteristics may include numerous thermal sieves. This is particularly the case of the city of Versailles. According to a study carried out by the Hello Watt platform, a start-up specializing in support for energy renovation carried out with ADEME 2021 data, that is to say post-reform of the energy performance diagnosis (DPE ), the latter displays a rate of 32% of thermal strainers, which places it in the ranking of the ten cities with the greatest number of thermal strainers in France, behind cities like Vincennes (44%), Colombes (43% ), Paris (42%), Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (41%), Asnières (35%), Levallois Perret (35%).

Take action against energy poverty

A household is generally considered to be in energy poverty when the share of the budget it devotes to energy represents at least 10% of its income. For its part, the legislator considers that the situation of energy poverty is characterized when a person who experiences particular difficulties in their home in having the energy supply necessary to satisfy their basic needs due in particular to the unsuitability of its resources or its habitat conditions. It is estimated that in Yvelines, more than 60,000 households are estimated to be in fuel poverty. With a share of very old housing, in rural areas, and urban areas born from post-war construction programs, not subject to thermal regulations, the difficulties in ensuring one’s heating needs increase, as a share of buildings are aging and constrained costs (fuel, food, etc.) are increasing. The recent increase in energy costs over the past two years has further exacerbated this phenomenon.

A dedicated support service

The Yvelines department is mobilizing to deal with it. For more than 10 years, the department has been involved in the Habiter Mieux program, alongside Anah, the National Housing Agency, in order to fight against fuel poverty by supporting low-income and very low-income households in renovations. renovation of their homes. More than 5,000 Yvelin homeowners have benefited from it. With the Energy Renovation Support Service (SARE), it now offers support to all Yvelin households, regardless of their resource conditions.