The Climate and Resilience Act of August 24, 2021, which resulted from the work of the Citizens' Climate Convention, is a cornerstone in the integration of environmental issues into regulations affecting a wide prism of subjects relevant to everyday life: consumption, housing, travel, etc.

We present here its key measures in the field of housing, from the angle of the landlord-tenant relationship and the new obligations impacting leases and the ability to rent accommodation. These measures are designed to penalize owners of energy slums who are inclined not to renovate their dwellings.

1/ Freeze on rent increases:

As of August 24, 2022, rent increases will not be permitted for properties classified as F or G. This will also be the case as of July 1, 2024 in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte. In concrete terms, this means that the lessor can no longer :

• increase the rent when drawing up a lease with a new tenant, following a previous tenancy ;
• notify the lessee of a rent increase when renewing the lease;
• carry out an annual rent review during the term of the lease, in application of a rent indexation clause;
• initiate an action for rent reassessment on lease renewal in tense areas.

This applies to furnished and unfurnished leases, as well as mobility leases, but not furnished tourist accommodation. Are also out of scope the “civil code leases”, for premises that are not the main residence of the tenant.

2/ Withdrawal from the rental market:

The French Climate and Resilience Act has broadened the scope of the lessor's public policy obligation to provide lessees with "decent housing". By creating a new article L173-1-1 of the CCH, it introduced a classification of energy performance levels, expressed in :

• kilowatt-hours of primary energy per square meter per year, for energy consumption, and
• kilograms of carbon dioxide per square meter per year, for induced greenhouse gas emissions.

Class A thus recognizes extremely efficient assets, while class G penalizes those with extremely poor performance. As of January 1, 2023, a dwelling consuming more than 450 kilowatt-hours of final energy per square meter of living space per year will no longer qualify as a decent dwelling. This corresponds to part of class G. This type of asset is therefore already off the rental market.

The implementing decree of August 18, 2023 strengthened the minimum energy performance level of housing in a staggered manner:

• on January 1, 2025: the minimum level must correspond to class F ;
• January 1, 2028: class E; and
• January 1, 2034: class D.

Thus, in 2025, all G-rated properties will no longer be available for rent. Then, in 2028, F-rated properties, and in 2034 E-rated properties.

Different thresholds apply in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte.

However, the 2025 deadline is under discussion in view of inflation, and the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, has just announced that a postponement of the timetable is under consideration.

It should be noted that these criteria apply to bare or furnished rentals, but not to seasonal rentals (furnished tourist accommodation). Are also out of scope the “civil code leases”, for premises that are not the main residence of the tenant.

If the owner nevertheless rents out this non-decent accommodation, he runs the risk of being forced by the judge, seized by the tenant, to carry out renovation work, reduce the rent or suspend its collection, and suspend the term of the lease until the work has been carried out.

3/ Very limited exemptions

Buildings are exempt if the work :

• would entail modifications to the condition of the external parts or the architectural and decorative features of the building in contradiction with the rules laid down for historic monuments, remarkable heritage sites, etc ;
• exceed 50% of the property's market value, as assessed by a real estate professional
• entail a risk of building pathology, as justified by an expert's report;
• would not comply with any other obligations relating, in particular, to soil law, property rights, the safety of goods and people, or the appearance of facades and their layout.

In the case of current leases, the issue at stake is the tenant's claim for compliance against the lessor.

4/ What about current leases?

The judge will not be able to order a compliance measure if, in a co-ownership, the co-owner concerned demonstrates that, despite having taken the necessary steps to consider resolutions to carry out work on the common parts or common equipment, and to carry out work on the private parts of his lot adapted to the characteristics of the building, he has been unable to achieve an energy consumption level below the maximum threshold.

Obviously, the lessor cannot pass on the cost of bringing the property up to decent standards to the lessee.

Lessors can no longer turn a deaf ear if they want to avoid having their property withdrawn from the rental market. Energy audits are being developed to identify technical solutions for improving the property's performance.

5/ In condominiums:

There are 2 main measures to bear in mind:

• All condominiums whose building permits were submitted before January 1, 2013 will be required to carry out a collective DPE, with a staggered schedule for completion depending on the number of lots in the condominium. This obligation will apply even if the building or buildings do not have a collective heating or cooling system. The DPE will be renewed or updated every 10 years, unless it shows that the building belongs to class A, B or C, and the DPE is dated after July 1, 2021.
• All condominiums built more than 15 years ago will be required to draw up a multi-year works plan by January 1, 2023, with updates every 10 years. The plan is included on the agenda of each AGM. A works fund must be set up, with an annual contribution of at least 2.5% of the cost of the work scheduled in the plan, and at least 5% of the projected budget.

6/ New mandatory terms for leases of furnished or unfurnished accommodation:

Once again, these new provisions come into force in stages:

• January 1, 2024: the staggered schedule of minimum performance levels and the property's tax identification number;
• January 1, 2025: the level of performance of the property (the DPE classification).

As the DPE is one of the mandatory diagnostics required to rent or sell a property, all tenants and buyers must be informed of the property's energy performance.

It should also be noted that the obligation to provide environmental information to buyers or tenants must be fulfilled even before the lease is signed, and right from the stage of advertising the property for sale or rent.