🇫🇷 France’s Housing Crisis: Why Homes Are Becoming Unaffordable for Millions

worldperspective

France is facing a housing crisis of historic proportions. Plummeting property transactions, collapsing new construction, skyrocketing rents, and a backlog of over 2.4 million households waiting for social housing have made the dream of affordable living almost impossible.   Homelessness has surged past 330,000 people, while young families and the middle class find themselves locked out of the housing market.  In this video, we dive deep into the structural causes of the crisis:  insufficient land for building, the impact of sharp interest rate hikes since 2022, the explosion of short-term rentals and second homes in tourist-heavy areas, and “Malthusian” planning failures that underestimated population growth. We examine the French government’s “supply shock” response under President Emmanuel Macron, new EU-linked regulations on energy and short-term rentals, and the role of banks, global capital, and speculative investors in financialising French homes.   But beyond the economics, this crisis is a struggle over meaning: is housing a fundamental right tied to dignity and solidarity, or a tradable asset to be bought, sold, and securitised? And what happens when millions of ordinary French citizens are left behind?   Watch until the end for the bigger picture: how the French housing crisis connects with the broken ladder in Britain, the collapsing dream in the US, and the global battle over where — and how — humanity lives in the 21st century.   Also on youtube: https://youtu.be/_jRZyojsUPE   📺 Watch more from our playlist Homes & Humanity: Housing, Power & the Global Struggle to Live:    👉 UK Housing Crisis Explained   👉 The American Dream for Sale: Why Housing in the US is a Crisis of Power   👉 Full Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJeT_BWm_rW0_f_20iGqPeQuyHBzYOgFD   🔗 Follow us across platforms for real news & deep analysis:   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@worldperspective  Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/worldpe  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldperspective2/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@worldperspective2  Twitter/X: https://x.com/worldperspec   #FranceHousingCrisis #HousingCrisis #Macron #EUPolitics #HomesAndHumanity #SocialJustice #EuropeOnEdge

Transcript

00:00France, so often idealized for its elegance, its culture, and its grand architecture,

00:06hides behind its boulevards and haussmann facades a crisis that is both urgent and structural.

00:13The ability of ordinary people to find and keep a home.

00:17What might appear on the surface as simply another cycle of supply and demand is, in reality,

00:23a profound test of French society's values, its politics, and its relationship

00:28with both Europe and global capital.

00:31At the core of this crisis are stark indicators.

00:36The housing market has slowed to levels unseen in decades.

00:40Sales of existing homes collapsed in the year ending May 2024,

00:46falling to historic lows, leaving not just families, but estate agents,

00:51construction firms, and local economies paralyzed.

00:55The story is similar for new builds.

00:58Housing starts, and new home sales have collapsed throughout 2024,

01:03signaling that future supply is drying up before it even begins.

01:07This is not just a cyclical downturn.

01:10It is a structural freeze.

01:13And the consequences are brutally visible.

01:15Over 330,000 individuals in France were counted as homeless in 2021,

01:22a number that has almost certainly grown since then,

01:26stretching shelters and local authorities beyond their limits.

01:31Meanwhile, the much-celebrated French system of lodgment social,

01:35social housing, is buckling under the pressure.

01:372.4 million households are currently on the waiting list.

01:42Yet, only a fraction qualify for help, leaving millions in limbo,

01:48trapped between unaffordable private rents and inaccessible public solutions.

01:53For those who remain in the private market, costs have spiraled to punishing heights.

01:59Rents have more than doubled since the 1980s,

02:02and property prices continue their upward march,

02:05especially in Paris and other major cities.

02:08The middle class, once the stabilizing force of French society,

02:14now struggles to find affordable housing,

02:16while young people face the near-impossible challenge of moving out,

02:21establishing independence, and building their lives.

02:25But how did France arrive here?

02:27The causes are many, and they reveal deeper failings.

02:32Authorities have consistently failed to make sufficient land available

02:35for new housing construction, creating a structural scarcity that pushes prices ever higher.

02:42Interest rate hikes since 2022 have made mortgages unaffordable for many households,

02:48pricing entire generations out of ownership.

02:52Meanwhile, the explosion of second homes and short-term rentals,

02:56particularly in tourist-heavy areas,

02:58has pulled vast portions of housing stock away from residents,

03:02fueling shortages and driving up costs.

03:05Cities like Paris, Lyon and Marseille now compete not just with their own citizens,

03:11but with global tourism and speculative investors.

03:15There is also the problem of planning.

03:19France's land-use policies have been described as almost Malthusian in their assumptions,

03:24consistently underestimating population growth in urban areas.

03:28This miscalculation has left cities under-built, overcrowded, and unprepared for demand.

03:35The result is a mismatch.

03:38Young families and workers cluster into cities for jobs and education,

03:42but the available housing stock is locked up, overpriced, or unsuitable.

03:47So, what has the government done?

03:51Emmanuel Macron's administration has spoken of a supply-shock strategy,

03:55promising to accelerate construction and free up the market.

03:59Laws have been introduced to curb short-term rentals by reducing tax benefits,

04:05requiring stricter energy performance certifications,

04:07and giving local mayors more power to limit the number of rental days.

04:12Co-owners of apartment blocks are being given greater legal capacity

04:16to block or ban short-term lets entirely

04:19in an attempt to protect housing for residents.

04:23Proposals have also been floated to restrict purchases of secondary homes

04:27in high-demand tents areas,

04:29prioritising primary residents' ownership over speculative or seasonal use.

04:34These measures, however, may not be enough.

04:38Critics argue they address symptoms rather than causes.

04:43Without a fundamental shift in land allocation,

04:46financing, and social housing capacity,

04:49the crisis risks worsening.

04:51Calls are growing for more sophisticated forecasting of housing needs

04:55so that local and national policies

04:57are not constantly playing catch-up with demographic realities.

05:01Yet forecasting alone will not change the underlying imbalance of power

05:06between residents in need of shelter

05:08and investors and corporations who see homes as financial instruments.

05:14And here lies the deeper truth.

05:16France's housing crisis is not only about square metres, rents, or mortgage rates.

05:22It is about the meaning of housing in society.

05:26For generations, the French prided themselves on solidarity.

05:29The belief that the state has an obligation to guarantee dignity in living conditions.

05:36Today, that principle is colliding with the cold logic of neoliberal markets,

05:40EU environmental directives, and global capital inflows.

05:45Macron stands as the reformer,

05:48pushing France towards a market-led housing model.

05:51Ursula von der Leyen represents the supranational dimension,

05:54where EU climate and energy policies reshape the cost and supply of housing stock.

06:01And beyond them loom the banks, hedge funds, and sovereign investors

06:05who view French apartments not as homes, but as safe havens for global wealth.

06:11The tragedy, and the paradox, is that while France's homes are being securitised and financialised at a global scale,

06:20millions of French citizens live in precarity,

06:23stuck on waiting lists, trapped in overcrowded apartments,

06:27or unable to imagine a future of ownership.

06:30Housing, once considered a foundation of the social contract,

06:33has become the battlefield of competing interests.

06:37Families versus financiers.

06:39Tenants versus landlords.

06:42Local communities versus global capital.

06:45And if there is one thing we know from French history,

06:48it is that when ordinary citizens feel their dignity is under attack,

06:52they take to the streets.

06:54This crisis, therefore, may not end in quiet reforms or gradual adjustments,

06:59but in another eruption of protest, solidarity, and collective action,

07:05an echo of France's long tradition of struggle for justice.

07:10Yet, as with all of our explorations in homes and humanity,

07:15this is not only a French problem.

07:17From the broken housing ladder in Britain,

07:19to the American dream turned into a housing nightmare,

07:23and to crises stretching across Europe and beyond,

07:26we see the same forces at work.

07:28Banks, governments, and global markets reshaping

07:32not only where people live, but how they live.

07:36Stay with us, because in our next video,

07:39we will step further into this global battlefield of housing,

07:42where questions of ownership, power, and survival

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