These figures may be shocking in the midst of a housing crisis. The number of vacant residences or apartments reached 3.1 million in France in 2023, up 60% since 1990, according to an INSEE study published Tuesday. "The share of vacant dwellings is higher in the least densely populated areas (...). Conversely, it remains lower in the catchment areas of the most populous cities, in territories with a growing population or in those known for their tourist attraction," analyses the National Institute of Statistics.
In 2023, the number of vacant dwellings (unoccupied, to be distinguished from second homes) represented 8.2% of the total housing stock in France excluding Mayotte, 1.2 million more than in 1990. This increase took place mainly "from 2005" onwards and has since reached "an average of 2.5% per year", notes INSEE. This figure means that the number of vacant dwellings is increasing "2.3 times faster than the total number of dwellings between 2,005 and 2,023".
'A mismatch between supply and demand'
This increase concerns "almost all departments" with the exception of Corsica and Hérault. According to INSEE, long-term vacancies generally reflect a "demographic decline, a mismatch between supply and demand, the age or even insalubrity of housing, disputes between tenants and owners or succession problems".
How can we explain such an increase in this share of vacancies? Among the many causes, INSEE mentions "changes in population and construction" but also "the effects of the economic situation or tax and regulatory changes". Thus, the rural departments located along the "diagonale du vide" (a line of sparsely populated population that runs from the Ardennes to Ariège), as well as the Orne, are particularly affected. And this, unlike the Alpine departments and those located "along the Atlantic, in Île-de-France and in the Var".
Lower vacancy in major cities
In Paris, and in cities with more than 700,000 inhabitants, vacancies are lower (7%), although there are disparities. The situation is more contrasted in the areas of cities with between 200,000 and 700,000 inhabitants, with, for example, a low vacancy rate in Bayonne or Cannes and a high rate in Pau, Avignon or Saint-Étienne.
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Cities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants have the highest average vacancy rate, at 9.6% in 2020, with also marked differences.