MaPrimeRénov Energy Grants Suspended
10th June 2024
The MaPrimeRénov home energy efficiency grant scheme has been suspended.
The MaPrimeRénov grant has been the principal means by which the government has been seeking to realise its home energy efficiency objectives. Last year, 341,000 homes were upgraded with the grant, which averaged €41,000 per household.
However, since the beginning of the year it has become the victim of its own success, with applications having tripled this year over 2024, causing major delays in the process.
In several regions of the country the housing agency, Agence nationale de l’habitat (Anah), who manage the applications, is at breaking point.
According to figures from Hello Watt, an energy advisory service, only 35% of applications received between January and May this year have been approved, whilst 23% are in abeyance pending the submission of additional documentation, and 41% have received no response at all from Anah.
In addition, however, the government has stated that there are many fraudulent claims being made and it now seeks a pause in further applications so that new controls can be put in place. Eric Lombard, the Minister of the Economy, stated last week that there are around 16,000 suspicious files in the system, amounting to 12% of the stock. He stated that a new law adopted last “will enable the State to develop new tools to better detect and punish offenders.”
The government has denied claims that the scheme has been suspended due to budget constraints, although they acknowledge the risk of overspend this year. In 2024, the budget was reduced by €2b, from €4.5b to €2.3b, a sum that was retained for the 2025 budget. As we have previously reported, most grant levels in the scheme have been regularly reduced, and eligibility rules have been tightened.
The suspension is operative from 1st July, after which the on-line portal for applications will be temporarily closed. In the meantime, applications can continue to be received, although with no certainty as to when they will be processed. Valérie Létard, the Minister of Housing, has also stressed that "I would remind you, the application has to be complete. Individuals really need to take their time and be methodical in their approach.”
UPDATE 16th June 2025 - The government has rowed back on their decision, stating that the suspension will only apply to applications for multiple works.
In terms of applications already submitted, the government has stated that if they are "non-fraudulent" they will be "examined" and will give rise to payment "as soon as possible", and “a process of acceleration of the investigation will be put in place".
Applications concerning works to apartment blocks (copropriétés) are not affected by the suspension.
The decision to suspend the scheme has been widely criticized as a major blow to households, to the improvement of the energy efficiency of the housing stock and to the building industry.
Stéphane Troussel, president of ANIL, the national housing information and advice agency, stated “This brutal decision will undermine the dynamics of energy renovation in our country. It will send a signal of instability to households and professionals in the sector, even though the ecological transition requires clarity, coherence and continuity.”
Frédéric Utzmann, president of Effy, a major player specialising in energy renovation works, also stated that, “As early as January, we were raising the alert on the under-sizing of the appropriations allocated to MaPrimeRénov’ for this year, and we were asking for simple adjustments to ensure a better budgetary balance by lowering the subsidy rates, better controlling the cost of eligible work and blocking the subsidies requested through operators who abuse the scheme ...To suspend this aid is to kill a positive dynamic and to condemn the sector and all the jobs that depend on it in the territories.”
President Macron has made it clear he is not too pleased with suspension of the scheme stating state, "I expect the actors and the government to maintain this policy, I am not happy with what I have seen in the last few days."
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