As a sign that the housing crisis is there for millions of French people who cannot afford to become homeowners, almost four in five (74%) find it "very difficult" to get a rental contract. 'an apartment or a house. They are also one in five (19%) who rate it as "moderately difficult" and only 7% consider it to be "very easy". In total, finding a roof is therefore an obstacle course for nine ten tenants.
"This is not surprising, analyzes Antoine Mark, president of the online real estate agency lagenceblue.fr, specialized in rental and rental management, who commissioned this survey. It should not be forgotten that the rental market is concentrated in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. These are often tense areas where it is difficult to find accommodation because there is strong competition between tenants and because, for their part, the owners are asking more and more insurance and guarantees from their tenant. We discover in passing that 57% of tenants say they do not have good relations with their lessor.
Another obstacle, "you also have areas, especially in the south of France, where there is simply no offer. There, the market is monopolized by seasonal rental and the apartments when they are rented are only rented until June and then rented three, four months only to tourists. It is therefore very complicated to find a place. We talk a lot about the problem posed by Airbnb in Paris but more rarely about this phenomenon of accommodation which must be vacant in summer to be rented during the high season. "
29% of tenants willing to lie
Faced with these difficulties, 88% of tenants say they are ready to "make sacrifices to access a property for rent" (91% of women and 81% of men). Clearly to tighten their belts to be able to pay overpriced rents. They are ready to cut corners on spending on leisure (72% of respondents), furniture and decoration (66%) or transport (53%), go out to restaurants less (50%), or even to cut into the vacation budget (49%) and spend less on clothing (39%).
Some go further since 62% of French people say they are "ready to change department or region" to find accommodation more easily. This is the case for 73% of men and 51% of women. “In large cities, says Antoine Mark, when the family grows and you have to move from a two-room apartment to a three or four-room apartment, you have no choice but to leave the city center. In Paris, a three-room apartment costs 1,500 or 1,600 euros per month, this means that you have to earn 5,000 euros per month for two, this is not given to the majority of French people. "
More surprisingly, 29% of tenants (19% of women but 37% of men) would not hesitate to lie about their income to obtain accommodation. And almost one in two (51% on average, 42% of women and 56% of men) even admits that they are ready "to seduce the owner" to get accommodation. "When an owner receives ten candidates a day," says Antoine Mark, "you really have to stick together and know how to use the weapon of seduction." "
