Emmanuel Grégoire, mayor of Paris, in his office at the Hôtel de Ville [City Hall], on April 2, 2026. KAMIL ZIHNIOGLU FOR « LE MONDE »
"Now is the time to sell vacant homes, because the penalties are going to hit hard." With this warning, the newly elected Socialist mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, launched his housing initiative. In a city where the price per square meter is approaching €10,000 and a shortage of rental properties blocks residential mobility, the new mayor has made tackling vacancies his top priority.
Read more Subscribers only Emmanuel Grégoire launches first four major initiatives of his term as mayor of Paris
In Paris, one out of every five homes is unoccupied (a total of 274,000 homes), whether they are vacant (137,000) or used as second homes and occasional residences, empty for most of the year (also 137,000), according to the latest data from INSEE, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, from 2022. And vacancy continues to rise: its share has increased from 7% to 10% of Parisian housing stock in just over a decade.
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