TOITURE 38
MaPrimeRénov’
the great backtrack
There was a time when MaPrimeRénov’ looked like momentum—a lever to renovate more, to renovate better. A clear incentive, backed by determined political rhetoric, in which many professionals believed. Many rightly saw it as a chance to structure projects, support households, and showcase craft expertise.
But hopes were quickly dashed. And since this June, the situation has become even more absurd. After being completely suspended for an indefinite period, MaPrimeRénov’ was ultimately maintained—but only in part, for so-called “single-measure” works. Officially, the move is meant to combat fraud and “stabilize the scheme” after months of criticism, rushed reforms, and repeated malfunctions. In reality, this decision sounds like an admission of failure: that of a public policy unable to keep its promises, leaving an entire sector now in utter limbo.
With incessant revisions, shifting criteria, opaque administrative constraints, processing delays, and frozen payments, the tool had already become unreadable—not to say counterproductive. These latest hesitations finish off a dynamic already largely weakened, and leave thousands of construction businesses by the wayside, watching their order books empty as confidence erodes.
The consequences are tangible: cancelled jobs, cash-flow strain, layoffs… Companies large and small are paying a high price for decisions taken without consultation or regard for realities on the ground. Meanwhile, housing continues to deteriorate, energy-inefficient “heat-sieve” homes are still there (between 4 and 5 million dwellings nationwide, according to official ministry figures), and the ecological emergency remains intact—yet there’s no one at the helm.
Our sector has never refused to adapt. It proves it every day through its capacity to innovate and stand firm in the face of an increasingly worrying climate. But it cannot operate on shaky promises, nor move forward blindly: artisans must be given the means to act with visibility, stability, and confidence. While renovation professionals are being asked to take a forced pause at a moment of acute economic tension, it is urgent to restore clarity and coherence to public action. Not in six months. Not in a year.
Because amid these chaotic decisions, it is vital to repeat once more that, despite the scale of the challenge, without businesses, no transition will happen.
Brice Alexandre Roboam