Things are changing in the heating systems of social housing. In early April, the government set a clear objective: to phase out gas heating for two million social housing units by 2050. The idea can be summed up in one sentence: to protect tenants from bills that fluctuate wildly depending on market conditions and geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East. And the timeline is already accelerating; the government plans to ban the installation of gas boilers in new constructions starting at the end of the year.
In the corridors of housing authorities, a shift in policy is palpable. For years, gas was the go-to option for multi-unit dwellings, easy to install, transparent, and often cheaper at the time. Except that the timing has changed. The announced 15,4% increase in the reference gas price, effective May 1st for three-quarters of subscribers, adds another layer of burden to expenses and reignites a simple concern: that of households with no financial flexibility.
In Évry, the transition comes at a price.
In Évry, the energy transition is paying off. At the Pyramides residence in Essonne, 152 apartments managed by 1001 Vies Habitat have just been connected to an urban heating network. The announced cost is €370,000. The housing provider highlights a projected 2025 energy consumption 31% lower than that of a residence heated solely by gas, a figure that, on paper, is certainly convincing. The Minister for Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, is scheduled to visit the site on Tuesday, April 21, a sign that the government wants to demonstrate concrete results, not just graphs and distant objectives.
The crux of the matter remains money, and it's rarely lacking in this kind of transition. Landlords are requesting public support to finance the conversion, as the sector's equity is tight and rents are regulated. Above all, they're demanding stable systems, capable of withstanding changes in government—a polite way of saying that the construction industry doesn't like stop-and-go policies. On the ground, solutions vary: district heating networks, where they exist, often powered by geothermal energy, waste incineration, or biomass, and heat pumps depending on the building's configuration.
The reality of daily life remains, the one the reader is familiar with: a decrease in consumption doesn't always translate to an immediate decrease in the bill. Tenants interviewed mentioned limited heating and savings that were difficult to perceive, as if the promise were lost in the settings and the allocation of costs. The government, for its part, is promoting a different symbol: one million heat pumps per year by 2030, "made in France," with the promise of halving heating costs—an ambition that requires factories, installers, maintenance, and time—precisely the time that bills never provide.
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