Rent control: let’s go to Lyon
It is now official. After Paris and Lille, Lyon and Villeurbanne have put in place since Monday, November 1, 2021 the framework for rents. Decided by the ecological majority of the metropolis of Lyon, the measure aims to contain the rise in site prices and that of real estate in the agglomeration.
Depending on the area, the type of housing (T1, T2, etc.) of reference. Only new leases are affected. If 20% of this amount is exceeded, they are liable to penalties.
Concretely, a 15 m2 studio currently rented 440 euros in the heart of Lyon, near the town hall, will no longer be able to exceed 307.50 euros per month in the future, a decrease of 30%. Through its measure, the community mainly targets small areas for students, whose prices have exploded for ten years.
“It was time to act. The share of rent in budgets is increasingly alarming, even for the wealthiest middle classes. We have more and more T1 which without the 22 euros per square meter. Or here, there is a quality of life that we must defend. We are not London or New York. And so much the better, ”says Renaud Payre, vice-president in charge of the file.
“A very bad signal to investors”
But, on the professional side, the pill is difficult to swallow. “For us, it is a political posture, close to populism, but not a solution. We are the second largest living area in France, we cannot display the prices of Lozère ”, tackle Nicolas Bouscasse, president of the FNAIM Rhône. According to the latter, management sends “a very bad signal to investors.”
“While today on a need for housing. It is the weakness of production which is the main cause of the increase in rents. (…) Of course, humanly, I understand that the tenants are applauding. But you must have housing to be able to contest a rent. Or, today, we can no longer accommodate everyone, ”he laments.
For its part, the Lyon executive assumes to lower the profitability of investments. “Yes, we want to rebalance the choice of investors. If the units are less rentable, then we hope that the prices will readjust. And if an investor doesn’t come, there are so many locals who want to buy that the sellers will have no problem finding takers. It is no longer tenable to see the market take 6% per year and 50% in ten years, ”insists Bruno Bernard, president of the metropolis of Lyon.
Provided that the measure is respected. The metropolis will provide standard letters to be sent to its owner or to State services. In case of agreement between the parties, the owner will have to change the rent while respecting the framework and return the overpayment. If no agreement is found, then he will incur a fine of up to 15,000 euros and will have to return the part of the rents received in excess. Greater Lyon will create a metropolitan housing team responsible, among other things, for detecting rent overruns.