Mark Stücklin
A new report published in France has called for rent controls to be extended and made permanent. Though it is a French debate, it matters in Spain too, where similar ideas circulate and where policymakers often borrow from Paris. Rent control is now being experimented with on both sides of the Pyrenees.
According to a story in Le Figaro, two French MPs – Annaïg Le Meur (from President Macron’s centrist alliance) and Iñaki Echaniz (Socialist Party) – have recommended making rent controls a permanent fixture of French housing policy. Their report, commissioned by the former housing minister Valérie Létard, proposes extending the measure beyond the current 72 municipalities where it is being trialled until November 2026.
The proposal would allow any local authority in so-called “tense” areas (zones tendues) – where demand for rental housing is high – and their neighbouring municipalities to introduce caps on rents.
Echaniz claims that “all the municipalities are satisfied and see concrete effects,” while the report insists rent caps are not the cause of the shrinking supply of rental homes, which also affects cities without rent control. Instead, the stated goal is to “accompany the rise in rents” and prevent excessive increases.
The Paris urban planning authority (APUR) argues that rent caps kept average rents in the French capital 8.2% lower between July 2023 and June 2024 than they would otherwise have been.
The flaws in the rent control argument
On the surface, these findings might sound like success. But the weaknesses in the case for rent controls are obvious:
- Correlation isn’t causation – a falling or stable rent level can’t automatically be attributed to rent caps. Broader macroeconomic factors (slower growth, higher borrowing costs, or reduced demand from tenants) also play a role.
- Supply effects ignored – reports consistently downplay how caps discourage landlords from renting, reduce turnover, and push owners to sell or keep properties empty. One Grenoble landlord quoted in Le Figaro’s comments section described how his tax burden plus rent caps made rental “no longer viable,” leading him to sell instead of re-let.
- Quality deterioration – when income is capped, landlords have less incentive (or capacity) to reinvest in maintenance, leading to a gradual decline in the housing stock.
- Distorted markets – tenants with the “right profile” benefit, but outsiders (students, new arrivals, lower-income families) face more competition for fewer flats, as demand outstrips constrained supply. One reader of Le Figaro sarcastically noted: “I already get 100 requests for each rental. With this law, it will be 300.”
These criticisms echo the experience of rent control experiments worldwide: some sitting tenants benefit in the short term, but overall affordability worsens for the majority.
Politics and ideology
Many French commentators see the proposals less as pragmatic policymaking and more as ideological theatre. Online reactions to the Le Figaro article ranged from describing the policy as a “new law of 1948” (the rent freeze after WWII that devastated the rental sector for decades) to calling it “one more step towards communism.”
Others pointed out the contradictions of imposing rent caps while maintaining high property taxation, which already squeezes landlords. As one reader asked: “Why not ask why supply is falling instead of just blaming landlords?”
The debate has a strong political dimension. Echaniz is also known for having spearheaded a law regulating Airbnb in France. His alliance with Le Meur is being presented as “bipartisan,” but in reality the political mood in France is tilting towards heavy-handed regulation of the rental sector.
Why this matters for Spain
Spain is not far behind France. Rent caps are already in place in Catalonia (though legally contested) and the 2023 Housing Law gave regional governments the power to declare “stressed areas” where rent controls can be applied.
What happens in France should therefore be watched closely from Spain. Policymakers here will be tempted to copy Paris if the French model is seen as “working.” But the deeper reality is that rent controls have never solved housing crises – they only redistribute pain in ways that are politically popular for a while, but economically damaging in the long run.
SPI’s position
At Spanish Property Insight, our position is clear: rent controls never work as intended. They can deliver short-term relief for some tenants, but they worsen affordability for others, reduce supply, discourage investment, and degrade the rental stock over time.
Spain’s housing challenges are real and urgent – but the solution lies in policies that encourage more housing supply, less red tape, and fairer taxation, not artificial caps on prices.
