The recovery of new housing construction is still "far from the mark" to achieve the government's recovery targets, "already threatened", Frédéric Carré, new president of the French Building Federation (FFB), said on Tuesday.
"Activity is declining, despite a technical rebound since late 2025 thanks to improved credit conditions and the zero-interest loan," he observed during a press conference.
For 2026, whose early months were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, the FFB estimates "at best 321,000" housing units will be started, "still 35,000 units below the average of the last forty years".
"The objectives of the Housing Recovery Plan", which provides for the construction of two million homes by 2030, "are already threatened!", warns Frédéric Carré, who took up his position as head of the federation on Friday.
He is concerned about the 30% drop in the number of building permits issued in April compared to March.
Especially since other signals, such as the slowdown in sales of individual houses and housing reservations from developers, suggest that the situation may worsen.
In 2025, new construction accounted for only 39% of the building sector's turnover, a "lowest level in at least 30 years", according to the FFB. "New housing now represents only a very low 20% of the total".
As for building improvement and maintenance activity, it declined in early 2026 for the sixth consecutive quarter, down 2.6% compared to the first quarter of 2025. More specifically, energy renovation activity fell 3.4% year-on-year, and even 4.1% for housing.
Consequently, the building sector lost 11,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2026 and a total of 55,000 jobs since the beginning of the crisis at the end of 2022.
Among its grievances, the FFB hopes for "the passage of a real finance law for 2027" and not a special law that creates uncertainty, as well as a strengthening of the MaPrimeRénov' scheme and support for individual investment in housing.
For Frédéric Carré, the Housing Recovery bill, which Minister Vincent Jeanbrun will present on Wednesday to the Council of Ministers, is "necessary" because "it is vital for the building sector that decisions be made before the 2027 budget, given the inertia of the sector".
