The rents of more than 75,000 housing units in the city of Montpellier will be supervised, or even reframed, from July 1 in order to prevent abuse and limit their level in sectors in high tension.
The Metropolis will experiment, from July 1st until 2026, the supervision of rents, in the city of Montpellier, a device provided for by the Elan law of 2018.
Exactly 76,669 homes will be affected in the city
It was presented this Thursday by Michaël Delafosse and Claudine Vassas-Mejri, vice-president in charge of housing. “Housing was conspicuously absent from the electoral debates. This framework is part of a proactive policy in the field of housing, so that everyone can find housing with dignity”. In the train of offers, the establishment of the rental permit, “which has just seen a slum landlord hit with a fine of €3,000 in Celleneuve”, he underlined, “the fight against unworthy housing, the regulation of tourist accommodation, and other “ambitious objectives in terms of social housing”.
From €13.2 to €17.3 per rental square meter in Montpellier
A reference rent is set each year by the Prefect of Hérault on the basis of the rents recorded by the Local Observatory of Rents, itself approved by the Ministry.
This reference rent is determined according to 4 criteria (see below). In Montpellier, it was set at €13.2/m² and up to €17.3/m² for a studio. The measure prevents landlords from setting unreasonable prices. There is therefore an insurmountable ceiling: a controlled rent cannot exceed by more than 20% a reference value established by the prefect of the department.
What is a reference rent?
The reference rent is fixed by prefectural decree (by sector, according to the number of rooms, the date of construction, furnished or not) after the annual publication of the results of the Local Observatory of Rents (OLL), implemented by the ADIL34. If a rent is higher than the reference rent, it will have to be revised downwards. If it is lower, it could be revised upwards. Exceptionally, when the property has exceptional characteristics compared to accommodation of the same category located in the same geographical area, an additional rent may be requested.
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Whether you are an owner or a tenant, it is possible to know the rent that can be charged and to check whether it respects the framework, on the simulator developed by the Métropole*. A zoning allows to know the price per rental square meter, on five sectors (eservices.montpellier3m.fr/housing/management-of-rentals/).
Thus, an 18 m² studio in the Écusson dating from before 1946 and rented for €530, will have to be reduced by €87, or €443.
The implementation of the rent control experiment having been ratified by prefectural decree of May 24, 2022, this will soon be the rule in Montpellier. Will be concerned, the first rentals, changes of tenants, lease renewals and mobility leases (from one to 10 months of rental).
Owners worried
To the chagrin of real estate professionals who bring together many owners, such as the UNPI 34, the FPI Occitanie Méditerranée, the ABCD and the Fnaim Hérault. And who attack the device frontally (read below), but also because they would not have been concerted enough. That they oppose it, that hardly moves the city councilor, “free transport, social tariff in the canteens or control of the rents, etc., all these social measures appeared in my program”.
Nina Baudière-Servat, President of the UNPI34: “Always more constraints!”
How did you take part in this device?
In September, we were invited, along with FPI Occitanie Méditerranée, ABCD and Fnaim Hérault to the first steering committee. And nothing since. There was a communication campaign, but we were no longer invited. Moreover, there were no longer any other committees.
Is Montpellier legitimate to experiment with this rent control?
No, especially when it comes to the criterion of a high median rent level. No study proves it. According to the Observatory of rents, the evolution has been weak in recent years. Small areas will be impacted. But the owners must also cover their costs!
What are you afraid of?
That private landlords choose not to rent anymore. It’s always more constraints. By dint of adding diagnoses, rental permits, rent control, owners will no longer want to rent or will end up selling their property, out of necessity. This type of announcement also scares away rental investors towards Nïmes and Béziers.
And many homeowners will have to comply with energy requirements. And therefore invest. A real gas plant! Some dwellings, especially small apartments, are very often degraded, which means that work has to be undertaken. The tenant is rarely worried!
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Sanctions from the prefect in the event of non-compliance
The fear of seeing real estate investors fall back on cities like Nîmes or Lunel are not arguments, “in Paris or Lille, this did not happen!”.
The lessor is liable to penalties if the prefect finds that a lease does not respect the increased reference rent provided for. A letter of formal notice obliging him to comply will be sent to him. If he remains deaf to the recommendation, including reimbursement of the overpayment to the tenant, he incurs a fine of €5,000 (€15,000 for a legal person).
The tenant may for his part take action to reduce the rent. “But he will first have to have signed a lease”. It remains to be seen whether the latter will want to engage with an owner while seizing the judge for the protection of litigation, even before having placed a card!
Rents among the highest… after Ile de France and Nice
In an area that is increasingly attractive, housing needs remain strong in a tight real estate market, with 3,500 new arrivals per year. With a poverty rate of 19%, 5 to 8 points higher than comparable cities, an unemployment rate of 9.8%, rent control aims to provide housing suitable for the weakest households, but also for students . The metropolis of Montpellier is characterized by rent levels among the highest in the country, after the Ile de France, Nice and ahead of the other major cities such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Marseille and Rennes. And the tension on small surfaces is even more marked, knowing that in Montpellier, 62% of housing in the private rental stock is made up of small housing, type 1 or 2, whose rents per m² are the highest.
With regard to social housing, the current stock still does not meet all the demand. In 2020, 45,613 social housing units were located in Metropolitan France, including 34,623 in the city of Montpellier alone, i.e. 76%. 26,901 requests, i.e. more than 70% of registered requests, were still pending at the end of 2021. With eight requests for an allocation, potential beneficiaries are turning to the private sector, which is tending to slow down, and knowing that the gap between the private and the social can go up to 6 €/m². The supervision of rents will be monitored by the Prefect to whom the tenant can make a report. The latter may refer to a conciliation commission, and if necessary, the protection litigation judge.
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