Paris is the first city in France to implement some form of residential rent control. The first came in 2014 (enacted in the market in 2015), but this was later removed in 2017. The second came in 2019, and this current program remains in place until November 2026, at which time it will be reviewed.
But given that it has already been in place for a number of years, people have started to analyze it's effectiveness. Here is a study by Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme (APUR) that was published this month.
The report is in French, but I can tell you that, what they did, was compare the Paris region to 8 other cities in France -- all of which do not have the same rent controls. They were: Aix-en-Provence, Grenoble, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Strasbourg, Toulon, et Toulouse. These were allegedly chosen because their housing markets are thought to be similar to that of Paris'.
What they found was that from July 2019 to July 2023, legislated controls in Paris lowered rents by approximately 4.2%, compared to where they would have been without any market intervention.
At the same time, they noticed that these same controls seemed to become more effective over time. From July 2019 to June 2020, they lowered rents by 2.5%, but from July 2022 to June 2023, they lowered rents by 5.9%.
Paris is the first city in France to implement some form of residential rent control. The first came in 2014 (enacted in the market in 2015), but this was later removed in 2017. The second came in 2019, and this current program remains in place until November 2026, at which time it will be reviewed.
But given that it has already been in place for a number of years, people have started to analyze it's effectiveness. Here is a study by Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme (APUR) that was published this month.
The report is in French, but I can tell you that, what they did, was compare the Paris region to 8 other cities in France -- all of which do not have the same rent controls. They were: Aix-en-Provence, Grenoble, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Strasbourg, Toulon, et Toulouse. These were allegedly chosen because their housing markets are thought to be similar to that of Paris'.
What they found was that from July 2019 to July 2023, legislated controls in Paris lowered rents by approximately 4.2%, compared to where they would have been without any market intervention.
At the same time, they noticed that these same controls seemed to become more effective over time. From July 2019 to June 2020, they lowered rents by 2.5%, but from July 2022 to June 2023, they lowered rents by 5.9%.
Finally, they also found that the controls seemed to impact smaller places the most. For apartments between 8 and 18 m2, rents were 10.2% lower than expected during July 2019 and July 2023.
This is all interesting stuff, but in many ways, it is expected. Rent controls are intended to depress rental growth. That's the whole point. And based on this data from APUR, it is working in Paris.
But the really tough questions pertain to the possible knock-on effects. If rents are 4.2% lower, but operating costs are now growing faster than rents, then this is a problem for the housing market. You're on an unsustainable path.
And if lower rents mean that fewer developers are going to build new housing, then this is also a problem, because less supply will eventually translate into more upward pressure on rents. I don't know for sure that this is happening in Paris, right now, but these are crucial considerations.
It's never as simple as just looking at rents and thinking lower is better for long-term affordability.
Finally, they also found that the controls seemed to impact smaller places the most. For apartments between 8 and 18 m2, rents were 10.2% lower than expected during July 2019 and July 2023.
This is all interesting stuff, but in many ways, it is expected. Rent controls are intended to depress rental growth. That's the whole point. And based on this data from APUR, it is working in Paris.
But the really tough questions pertain to the possible knock-on effects. If rents are 4.2% lower, but operating costs are now growing faster than rents, then this is a problem for the housing market. You're on an unsustainable path.
And if lower rents mean that fewer developers are going to build new housing, then this is also a problem, because less supply will eventually translate into more upward pressure on rents. I don't know for sure that this is happening in Paris, right now, but these are crucial considerations.
It's never as simple as just looking at rents and thinking lower is better for long-term affordability.
The last time I was in Paris was in 2006. That's a long time ago and so it was great to be back in the city earlier this week. I don't know the city as well as I do many other cities, but I speak enough French to be dangerous and we spent a good amount of time on this trip just exploring. On average, we clocked about 20,000 steps a day. So here's a list of some of the things I was reminded of or learned of on this visit. If any of you are more familiar with the city, please feel free to speak up in the comment section below.
I love Paris.
The Parisian art of people watching is alive and well. One of my favorite things about Paris is how so much of the cafe seating faces out toward the street. That's what you're supposed to be watching: urban life.
Most cities have a clear message. In Los Angeles, it's probably that you should be more famous. In Boston, it's arguably that you should be smarter. And in New York, it is perhaps that you should be richer. In Paris, the message feels loud and clear: You should be more fashionable.
Compared to Toronto, the center of Paris feels far more static. Less construction. Less change. Less that is new. That's not such a bad thing given how beautiful the city is. But in my view, cities are about balancing preservation and progress. From what I could tell, a lot of the new construction seemed to be happening in the suburbs and in the outskirts of the city.
That said, COVID feels much further along in Paris. The city was very open and everyone seemed to be back in the office. Locals said that the city was operating at maybe 80%. It felt busy.
Dress shoes are dead in Paris. Everyone wears cool sneakers no matter how young or old. Think business suits with Nike Air Maxes. My hypothesis is that it's just far more practical given how much people walk in Paris. I plan to adopt this strategy immediately.
In addition to walking, everyone seemingly bikes and/or uses an electric scooter. Again, it didn't seem to matter how young or old. Paris also seems to have solved the scooter clutter problem, as has many other cities. There are designated spots (painted lines next to on-street car parking) and that's where you'll find the scooters. Toronto needs to get on board.
Traveling at 300 km/h on a train is a highly civilized way to move between urban centers.
There's nothing wrong with having a picnic and drinking a bottle of wine (or two) in a park. In fact, it is probably something that should be celebrated. Let people be grown-ups.
When you purchase a baguette, you should immediately take a bite out of it to see how fresh it is.
The Eiffel Tower, much like the CN Tower, looks far better when illuminated.
Balconies of any size can be wonderful. We had a small Juliet balcony off of our hotel room in Nice and we used it every day for croissant eating and to dry our bathing suits. In a more permanent situation, I am sure we would have started growing things on it.
Midrise buildings do indeed create nice urban street walls. But it's important to keep in mind that Paris' midrise blocks are also deep and dense and with lots of courtyard conditions. That's how the city is able to house so many people at such low building heights.
Facing conditions between buildings is less of a concern when you employ less glass. Smaller punched windows allow you to better manage privacy. I would go so far as to argue that if Paris were an all-glass city, much of its current built form would be fairly unlivable.
This beach area was closed because of high winds and choppy waters. But that didn’t stop these kids from doing some very impressive dives off of this ledge. It also happens to be right beside a wonderful restaurant / diving facility called Le Plongeoir.
The last time I was in Paris was in 2006. That's a long time ago and so it was great to be back in the city earlier this week. I don't know the city as well as I do many other cities, but I speak enough French to be dangerous and we spent a good amount of time on this trip just exploring. On average, we clocked about 20,000 steps a day. So here's a list of some of the things I was reminded of or learned of on this visit. If any of you are more familiar with the city, please feel free to speak up in the comment section below.
I love Paris.
The Parisian art of people watching is alive and well. One of my favorite things about Paris is how so much of the cafe seating faces out toward the street. That's what you're supposed to be watching: urban life.
Most cities have a clear message. In Los Angeles, it's probably that you should be more famous. In Boston, it's arguably that you should be smarter. And in New York, it is perhaps that you should be richer. In Paris, the message feels loud and clear: You should be more fashionable.
Compared to Toronto, the center of Paris feels far more static. Less construction. Less change. Less that is new. That's not such a bad thing given how beautiful the city is. But in my view, cities are about balancing preservation and progress. From what I could tell, a lot of the new construction seemed to be happening in the suburbs and in the outskirts of the city.
That said, COVID feels much further along in Paris. The city was very open and everyone seemed to be back in the office. Locals said that the city was operating at maybe 80%. It felt busy.
Dress shoes are dead in Paris. Everyone wears cool sneakers no matter how young or old. Think business suits with Nike Air Maxes. My hypothesis is that it's just far more practical given how much people walk in Paris. I plan to adopt this strategy immediately.
In addition to walking, everyone seemingly bikes and/or uses an electric scooter. Again, it didn't seem to matter how young or old. Paris also seems to have solved the scooter clutter problem, as has many other cities. There are designated spots (painted lines next to on-street car parking) and that's where you'll find the scooters. Toronto needs to get on board.
Traveling at 300 km/h on a train is a highly civilized way to move between urban centers.
There's nothing wrong with having a picnic and drinking a bottle of wine (or two) in a park. In fact, it is probably something that should be celebrated. Let people be grown-ups.
When you purchase a baguette, you should immediately take a bite out of it to see how fresh it is.
The Eiffel Tower, much like the CN Tower, looks far better when illuminated.
Balconies of any size can be wonderful. We had a small Juliet balcony off of our hotel room in Nice and we used it every day for croissant eating and to dry our bathing suits. In a more permanent situation, I am sure we would have started growing things on it.
Midrise buildings do indeed create nice urban street walls. But it's important to keep in mind that Paris' midrise blocks are also deep and dense and with lots of courtyard conditions. That's how the city is able to house so many people at such low building heights.
Facing conditions between buildings is less of a concern when you employ less glass. Smaller punched windows allow you to better manage privacy. I would go so far as to argue that if Paris were an all-glass city, much of its current built form would be fairly unlivable.
This beach area was closed because of high winds and choppy waters. But that didn’t stop these kids from doing some very impressive dives off of this ledge. It also happens to be right beside a wonderful restaurant / diving facility called Le Plongeoir.
