Paris City Council Elections 2026: Housing – What Are the Candidates’ Plans?

In Paris, housing has emerged as one of the key issues in the upcoming municipal elections on March 15 and 22, 2025. Here's a rundown of the proposals from declared candidates for the Paris mayoralty on topics such as access to housing, social housing, rent control, and urban planning. Who’s proposing what? We’ve got all the details!

This spring, Parisians will once again head to the polls for the upcoming municipal elections, scheduled for March 15 and 22, 2026. This election will be notable for a significant change in voting procedures in the capital. Thanks to the law passed on August 11, 2025, voters will now be required to cast two separate ballots on the same day, choosing their representatives both for the district council and the Paris Council.

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This procedural change, however, does not directly affect the course of the electoral campaign. As in previous elections, each candidate outlines their program and priorities, centered around issues that resonate broadly with voters. These include areas such as education, security, healthcare, but also housing. In Paris, this topic holds a key role in municipal debates, reflecting its impact on residents’ daily lives. Topics like fluctuations in real estate prices, rent controls, availability of social housing, renovation of energy-inefficient buildings, or the regulation of seasonal tourist rentals are all factors that influence voters’ choices at the ballot box.

This focus on housing is driven by the significant role municipalities play in this area, even though they are not acting alone. They shape the development of their territories by deciding where and how construction can take place, balancing the need for new homes with the preservation of urban harmony. They support the creation of new housing, including social housing, collaborate with landlords, and ensure compliance with legal obligations. Municipalities also play a key role in distributing certain social housing units and assisting residents in difficulty. They are on the front lines in the fight against substandard housing conditions, regulating practices such as short-term rentals, and helping residents renovate their homes.

In this context, if housing is one of your top concerns, Sortiraparis offers you a summary of the proposals from candidates running for Paris mayor on this issue. Our goal is to present the various measures as objectively as possible, so you have all the necessary information to form your own opinion when it comes time to vote.

Housing Policies Proposed for the 2026 Paris Municipal Elections:

(regular updates based on program announcements and candidate declarations)

Pierre-Yves Bournazel (Horizons – Backed by Renaissance)

Although the candidate's official website for the mayoral race currently does not outline specific housing policies, a few proposals have nonetheless been shared in the press:

Rebuild 60,000 housing units on the market through incentives for property owners (source: Le Parisien).
Construct 15,000 social and intermediate housing units annually (source: Le Parisien).
Cap tourist rentals to a maximum of 30 nights per year for furnished vacation accommodations (source: Boursorama)
Introduce a "100% Guarantee Package" to reassure private landlords, covering rent and deposits, to encourage the listing of vacant or unoccupied properties on the market. (Source: Batiweb)
Create three new university districts (student housing) by 2030, providing approximately 7,000 new student accommodations. (Source: Batiweb)
Quadruple renovation rates in social housing to modernize the existing stock over the next decade (comprehensive renovation plan). (Source: Batiweb)
Merge Paris’s three main social housing organizations to generate savings estimated at around 540 million euros (source: Le Parisien)
Reduce large-scale expropriations in the private sector (except in cases of health hazards), focusing public resources on renovation rather than on systematic acquisition of private properties. (Source: Club Grand Paris)
Reserve the majority of social housing for essential categories such as teachers, healthcare workers, police officers, and merchants (source: Club Grand Paris)
Prioritize access to social housing for working individuals (source: Official Candidate’s Website)
Increase turnover in social housing by offering moving bonuses (source: Official Candidate’s Website)
Fund the renovation of 90,000 energy-inefficient homes in the private sector (source: Official Candidate’s Website)
Experiment with a private condominium energy autonomy plan (source: Official Candidate’s Website)
Create a Parisian student housing lease to help young people find accommodations (source: Official Candidate’s Website)

Blandine Chauvel (NPA)

As of February 9, 2026, there are still no concrete proposals or measures specifically addressing security at the party’s headquarters.

Sophia Chikirou (La France Insoumise / New Paris for the People)

The candidate proposes to swiftly increase the availability of housing in Paris by intervening in the private market, cracking down on vacant properties and illegal tourist rentals, while strictly regulating rent levels.
She plans to establish a Housing Rights Brigade, convert a significant number of short-term holiday rentals into permanent housing, impose a moratorium on new furnished rentals, and strengthen the use of preemption rights to boost social housing and secure long-term leases.
The initiative also includes creating a public property management agency, providing enhanced aid for the most vulnerable tenants, freezing social rents at the start of the term, and launching a comprehensive energy renovation plan conditioned on affordable rents and the use of eco-friendly, bio-based materials.
Developing a comprehensive campaign to combat housing discrimination, including regular testing exercises with published results, establishing an anti-discrimination unit linked to the Housing Rights Brigade, tying municipal benefits to equal access policies, and creating a Paris Equality in Housing Label to recognize committed actors.
Declaration of a "housing emergency" (Source: CNEWS)

To learn more about all the measures, specific goals, and the implementation timetable, visit the full program.

Rachida Dati (The Republicans/Modem/UDI)

Priority for families and working individuals (including healthcare workers) in accessing social and intermediate housing (source: official candidate website and Instagram).
Enhance housing opportunities for those employed in Paris (source: official candidate website).
Commitment of €100 million annually to renovate and secure the social housing stock (source: Instagram campaign).
End the practice of pre-empting properties as a municipal intervention tool (Source: Imoweek).
Questioning the expansion of social housing quotas within the city (Source: Imoweek).

Emmanuel Grégoire (Center-Left Alliance: Socialist Party, Communist Party, Environmentalists, Place Publique, L’Après)

Although no detailed plan has been announced on the subject, housing remains one of the candidate’s key priorities. Nevertheless, a few measures have been hinted at through the media and other channels:

Ban permanent tourist accommodations to free up housing (source: Le Parisien).
Make housing more accessible and affordable, with plans for up to 60,000 new social and intermediate housing units (source: official candidate site and France24).
Activate vacant housing stock (source: official candidate site).
Undertake massive renovation of private housing—35,000 social housing units—and support improvements for some 200,000 private homes (source: official candidate site).
Convert or dismantle unused office spaces into residential units (source: Le Monde).
Add floors to existing buildings to create new apartment spaces (source: Le Monde).
Increase the requisition of vacant homes as a proactive municipal measure (source: Ouest France).
Deploy an inter-property management team for repairs (source: France24).
Actively requisition homes vacant for over five years (source: official candidate site).
Combat housing discrimination (source: official candidate site).
Create a Housing Protection Brigade to enforce rent controls citywide (source: official candidate site).
Implement a "Zero Children on the Streets" plan and create 4,000 emergency shelter spots (source: CNEWS).
Offer an accessible municipal home insurance that covers issues like bed bugs (source: official candidate site).
Establish a Municipal Rent Guarantee extending the existing Visale program (source: official candidate site).
Support the accessibility upgrades of residential buildings (source: official candidate site).

Sarah Knafo (Reconquête)

Abolition of rent controls in Paris.
Ceasing the city's real estate preemption policy.
Implementing a moratorium on new social housing developments for the duration of the term.
Launching a homeownership plan aimed at middle-income families.
Annual sale of around 4,000 social housing units, prioritizing current tenants.
Exemption from transfer duties (notary fees) for social housing tenants purchasing their homes.
10% reduction in transfer taxes on property transactions.
Introduction of a digital application for allocating social housing, based on transparent criteria and a points-based system.
Encouraging turnover within the social housing stock through:
- Promotion of homeownership,
- Voluntary departures,
- Application of the solidarity rent supplement when income exceeds set thresholds.
Systematic eviction of social housing tenants found guilty of serious disturbances, repeated non-payments, or drug trafficking, within legal bounds.
Priority access to social housing for specific professionals, including childcare workers, police, firefighters, and public hospital staff.
Conversion of a municipal building into an outstanding student residence (“Villa des Talents”).
Abolition of the bioclimatic urban plan (PLU-b) and elimination of the "pastiche" principle.
Reducing the processing time for building permits.
Halving property taxes.
Refund of overpaid property taxes to owner-occupiers.
Cutting the garbage collection tax and street sweeping fee by 50% (housing-related charges).
Lowering Paris's local taxes by leveraging a municipal savings plan estimated at nearly 10 billion euros (Le Parisien).

(Source : Official Candidate Website)

Thierry Mariani (National Rally - UDR)

Cut property taxes through a major plan of savings and debt reduction (source: official candidate's site).
Establish secure residences for victims of domestic violence and ensure access to municipal legal aid (source: official candidate's site).
Prioritize affordable housing for locals and support families and workers in accessing social housing (source: official candidate's site).
Support the development of intergenerational housing to combat isolation and foster connections between students and seniors (source: official candidate's site).
Reimagine urban planning to blend housing, mobility, and respect for Parisians' quality of life (source: official candidate's site).

Marielle Saulnier (Lutte Ouvrière)

No concrete proposals or measures explicitly dedicated to housing have been published on the candidate's official site as of February 9, 2026.

All that’s left is to sift through these proposals.

To help clarify the issues that concern you most regarding the management of Paris, we’ve prepared a summary by theme. You can find all these topics below!

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