Green Daily Fix

For a French landlord, a rental rated F or G on the DPE is now a countdown, not just a comfort problem. From 1 January 2025 the most energy-hungry homes can no longer legally be rented, and F-rated flats follow in 2028. Renovating is unavoidable — the real question is how to pay for it without draining your cash. This is where the éco-prêt à taux zéro (éco-PTZ) earns its place: a state-backed, interest-free loan of up to €50,000 over 20 years, open to landlords, with no income condition. This guide walks through the 2026 ceilings, the eligible works and the RGE rule, how the éco-PTZ stacks with MaPrimeRénov and CEE on the same works, the prêt avance rénovation variant, and the tie-in with the déficit foncier and the décence énergétique deadlines. Figures are drawn from service-public.gouv.fr and France Rénov; treat this as information, not personalised advice, and confirm each figure at the source before you sign.

Since 1 January 2026, one quiet number has reshaped the French rental market: the coefficient converting final energy into primary energy for electricity has dropped from 2.3 to 1.9. In plain terms, the primary-energy consumption printed on the DPE of an electrically heated home falls by roughly 17% — with no renovation work at all. For hundreds of thousands of landlords, that means a letter gained on the energy label, and sometimes an exit from the passoire (energy-sieve) status that had banned letting altogether. Enacted by the arrêté du 13 août 2025, the change raises very concrete questions: is my home reclassified? do I need a new diagnosis? can I rent it out again? This guide lays out the official figures and the exact steps, so you can re-issue your DPE at the right moment and put your property back on the market in full compliance.

Selling a French home rated F or G on its DPE? Since 1 April 2023 you cannot simply hand a buyer the energy label and sign — the law also requires a separate regulatory energy audit (audit énergétique réglementaire). The obligation widened to class E on 1 January 2025, and will reach class D on 1 January 2034. This guide explains, with the exact dates and legal references, what the audit is, how it differs from a DPE, what it must contain (two costed renovation pathways reaching at least class B), who may carry it out, what it costs, and how it dovetails with the ban on renting out thermal-sieve housing. The figures here come from service-public.fr and the Ministère de la Transition écologique; treat them as information, not personalised advice, and confirm your own case at the official source before signing anything.

What must a French rental listing show about energy? Every annonce must display the DPE energy class (A–G), the GES greenhouse-gas class, the estimated annual energy cost range with its reference year, and — for F or G homes — the mention "logement à consommation énergétique excessive". The DPE must then be handed to the tenant and annexed to the lease. This guide sets out each mandatory mention, since when it applies, and what a wrong or missing one costs.

Is the DPE legally binding, and what can you do if yours is wrong? Since 1 July 2021 the DPE is opposable — binding like other property diagnostics — so a tenant can hold you liable for errors. But that street runs both ways: if your home is wrongly classed F or G and blocked from letting, you can commission a new DPE from another certified diagnostician, claim against the original one, or pull a free re-edited DPE.

Can you raise the rent on an F or G property in France? No. Since 24 August 2022, the rent of a "passoire thermique" (DPE class F or G) in mainland France is frozen: no IRL indexation, no increase at renewal, none between tenants — until renovation lifts it to class E or better, proven by a new DPE.