Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: OLIVIER MORIN / AFP 18:40 pm, September 14, 2023

Finally a brightening for the French real estate market. According to Fnaim's 2023 energy performance diagnostics barometer, there was a decrease in energy sieves in the second quarter of the year. Good news for owners but also for buyers and tenants, in the midst of a real estate crisis.

Fewer thermal strainers, but still an effort to make. According to figures from the Fnaim real estate diagnostics chamber, 13.1% of housing has been classified as thermal sieves, categories G and F, out of more than 900,000 controls. A share down 0.7% compared to the first quarter of 2023, which can be explained by the upcoming obligation for owners of poorly classified properties to do renovation work if they want to sell or rent them.

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A glaring gap between the new and the old

According to Fnaim, there is a real energy gap between the new and the old. The nine are (not surprisingly) the good students of this study. They have all been classified between A and C, proof of improved construction quality, better materials used and better thermal insulation. As for the old market, the picture is more mixed. 21% of them are classified E, 15% in G and F. The gap is also felt between pavilions and apartments: nearly 20% of the former are thermal sieves, compared to only 12% of the latter.

In any case, a still high level when we know that G classified housing will be prohibited for rent in 2025, and in 2028 for category F. Eventually, category E goods will also be affected by this type of ban, but only in 2034.

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Oil-fired dwellings over-represented among thermal sieves

Another lesson from this barometer is that housing prices seem to influence the propensity of homeowners to initiate thermal renovation work. Except in Île-de-France and Paris, the higher the average price in a municipality, the fewer housing classified G or F.

But beyond the type of property, and even its size, Fnaim also points out that the type of heating has its importance on the category of goods. And for good reason, it is one of the most important criteria of ECD. Thus, 51.1% of oil-fired dwellings are classified G or F, against only 17.7% for electricity, 9.1% for gas and 4% for wood. As for the year of construction, if 30% of housing built before 1948 are thermal sieves, they are 3% for the period 1989 to 2000, and more than 0.3% for properties from 2022. Proof that the energy policy for housing is bearing fruit.