French News Archive

Property Market

France's Empty Homes

Thursday 03 March 2016

There are 2.8 million empty homes in France and their location provides a useful indicator of just where the best bargains may be found.

According to the French national statistical office, Insee, at the end of 2015 there were 2,880,000 empty homes in France, equivalent to 8.2% of the total housing stock.

That compares with 1,992,000 empty homes in 2005 (6.3% of the total stock), an increase of 45% in 10 years.

Those properties vacant are divided equally between apartments and houses.

The vast majority are in the private sector, with only around 80,000 publicly owned housing units.

Unfortunately, no information is provided on the length of time the properties have been vacant, and it is safe to say that the vast majority of these homes are on the market for sale.

Nevertheless, in the UK the equivalent figure is around 650,000 empty homes, no less than four times lower than in France!

The graphic below shows the distribution of empty homes across the country. In those areas shown in red, over 10% of the housing stock is empty.

As can be seen, most of the empty homes are located in the centre of the country, but there is also a significant vacancy level in many other areas.

Source: Insee

Related Reading:

Thank you for showing an interest in our News section.

Our News section is no longer being published although our catalogue of articles remains in place.

If you found our News useful, please have a look at France Insider, our subscription based News service with in-depth analysis, or our authoritative Guides to France.

If you require advice and assistance with the purchase of French property and moving to France, then take a look at the France Insider Property Clinic.