Local buying support is not new, but few buyers are aware of its existence. However, some of them are far from negligible and are not necessarily aimed at the most modest incomes. For example, the urban community of Rochefort Océan (Charente-Maritime), which brings together 25 towns, offers assistance of €8,000 to first-time buyers.
To be able to use it, the applicant “must not exceed the annually determined resource ceiling, which corresponds to the PLUS (Loan for Social Purposes) ceilings increased by 40%. In other words, they must apply a reference tax income of less than 39,817 euros (the ceiling for one person).
Help available to as many people as possible
“The aim is to support different profiles of buyers if they have lived or worked in one of the 25 municipalities for at least two years. Beneficiaries include single-parent families, young couples and even young doctors,” emphasizes Virginie Guyon, Head of Planning and Housing of the Rochefort Océan Urban Community.
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Twenty-seven-year-old Marion bought her first house last year with her partner. Originally from the region, she was able to take advantage of this €8,000 grant after she bought a 90m2 house in Rochefort for €210,000. “We wanted to get the job done quickly for our convenience. We therefore approached Caro Renov’ – an energy renovation consultancy from the urban community of Rochefort Océan – who informed us of this assistance dedicated to first-time buyers,” he explains.
A good reflex that also allowed them to save money. “Thanks to the advice of the energy company, with all the help, including MaPrimeRenov, we ended up carrying out €16,000 of energy work with just €1,500 out of pocket. Our energy bill went from 120 euros to 58 euros a month,” he explains.
If some have the reflex to find out about local help that may exist, others, although eligible, may miss it. “Each year about ten households are interested in this device,” comments Virginie Guyon. And in some territories the number of recipients is even smaller…
A useful utility… but limited
Further north, near Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), the Communauté des Communes du Pays de Châteaugiron also offers assistance to new owners. Its amount: €3,000, provided you buy an old property (built before 1975) and respect the PSLA resource caps. “It is quite difficult to buy in the suburbs of Rennes, so this system has the advantage of being there in that it wants to help first-time buyers, especially those affected by the real estate crisis, but it is insufficient,” explains CC Pays de Châteaugiron. Insufficient, as only 2 to 3 people a year benefit from this support.
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Even worse, the urban community of Vichy, which brings together 39 communes in the Allier department, has seen only… one recipient since the end of 2019. Initially, this €5,000 aid is aimed at attracting young households to settle down. region and thereby revitalize city centers. An initiative that is part of the “heart of the city” or “small cities of tomorrow” programs. But due to lack of communication, this local help remains unknown to the people of the area. “We were afraid of the financial abyss,” the urban community in Vichy whispers to us.
This support, reserved for first-time buyers, remains limited due to the number of potential beneficiaries. However, many municipalities, municipalities or agglomerations offer this type of system in various forms (subsidies or soft loans).
To find out if there is help in your municipality and if you are eligible for it, you can go to the National Agency for Housing Information (ANIL) website. Only the Île-de-France region and the overseas territories do not offer any help to buy a first home.