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HOMEOWNERSHIP IN FRANCE
Nearly six in ten households own their home in France. Homeownership rose considerably after World
War II, then came to a standstill in the mid-1980s. Today, an increasing share of the population is
finding it hard to buy a home.
In 2014, approximately 16.5 million households in France owned their home. 57.6% of the country’s 28.8 million main homes
are owned by their inhabitants.
A home, but on credit
In seven in ten cases, households purchasing a home choose a house, either newbuilt or on the resale market.
Some pay cash, others inherit, but the vast majority (over 80%) have to take out a long-term housing loan, especially if they are
buying for the first time. First-time buyers in France are termed “accédants” until they have finished paying off their loan.
Given the country’s ageing population, the share of “non accédants” is rising: in 2014, seven in ten owners in France had
completed payments on their first home. Owners who have paid off their loans now outnumber renters (40.7% as against
39.3%).
Changing share of owner occupancy
for all main homes in France (1955-2006)
The rise in homeownership in France
In 1955, slightly over one-third of households in France (35%) owned their
main home. Their share soon rose thanks to state-subsidized building loans
and loans for purchasing public housing units, as well as the development of
private lending organizations. The 1977 reform further accelerated the process,
as did building industrialization in France: property acquisition loans (PAP) and
personalized housing loans (APL) enabled massive numbers of mid-level
managers, technicians and skilled manual workers to become homeowners.
In the early 1980s, homeowners became the majority in France: more than
half of households were now living in self-owned housing. However, the rate
soon stagnated due to unemployment, anti-inflation policies and reduced
state aid.
In the early 2000s, the proportion of first homebuyers and poorer household
buyers fell. From 2000 to 2009, the share of homeowner households rose
slightly from 55.6% to 57.6%. Wage stagnation and dramatically rising real
estate prices in major cities have intensified inequalities in home acquisition.
Sources Insee, Enquêtes Logements
Everyone a homeowner?
People do not all become homeowners in the same way. These more or less marked disparities call into question public policy
effectiveness. Poorer households in particular are highly dependent on state home-buying aid. In the years 2002-2006, very few
first homebuyers in France (6.3%) figured in the 1st (poorest) quartile of households—a smaller share than in the late 1990s
(8.7% from 1997-2001). Poorer owners are often families with children who buy homes in small cities and rural towns; they
seldom purchase in Paris.
Young households must often wait before owning a home. In 2010, the average age of persons buying a home on credit was 37
years. The largest segment (40%) were in their thirties; 26% are under 30.
Lastly, fewer than half of immigrants’ descendants and only one-third of immigrants in France own their home. While these
rates are rising, there are still considerable differences between immigrants from other EU countries and Southern Asia—
whose rates are close to those for the majority population (excluding immigrants and immigrants’ children)—and immigrants
from North Africa and—above all—sub-Saharan Africa, whose homeownership rates are much lower.
SOURCES
France, portrait social – édition 2014, édition 2013, Insee
L’accession à la propriété dans les années 2000, Insee Première, n°1291, mai 2010
« Tous propriétaires ! » L’envers du décor pavillonnaire, Anne Lambert, Seuil Paris 2015
L’accession à la propriété des ménages pauvres et modestes, Michel Mouillart, La Lettre de l’Observatoire national de la pauvreté et de l’exclusion, n°3 mai 2012 ;
Les tendances récentes de l’accession à la propriété en France d’après l’Observatoire du Financement du Logement, Institut CSA, juillet 2010
Inégalités des transitions de logement, discrimination et ségrégation perçues, Jean-Louis Pan Ké Shon, Solenne Robello,
Trajectoires et Origines, Enquête sur la diversité des populations en France, équipe TeO, Documents de Travail, octobre 2010
Institut national d’études démographiques • 133, bd Davout 75 980 Paris cedex 20 • www.ined.fr