Paris City Council doubles vacant housing tax, aiming to free 20,000 homes for rental market

The vote

On Saturday 18 July 2026, the Paris City Council adopted a measure to double the tax on vacant homes, effective from 1 January 2027. The decision, permitted under the 2026 finance law, aims to "unclog the rental market" in the capital. The council is led by socialist mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, with housing deputy Jacques Baudrier spearheading the initiative. The new local tax replaces a levy that had been in place since 1999.

How the tax will rise

The current tax rates are 17% of the property's cadastral rental value after one year of vacancy, and 34% after two years. From 2027, these will increase to 30% and 60% respectively. The city provided an example: a vacant 30m² apartment in the 17th arrondissement currently pays €790; under the new rates, the bill will rise to €1,400 in the first year and €2,800 from 2028.

The tax applies in communes where housing supply fails to meet demand. The finance law sets default rates of 17% and 34%, but allows municipalities to raise them to the higher levels Paris has now adopted.

Aiming for 20,000 homes

Paris counts 150,000 vacant dwellings, about 9% of its total housing stock, according to the city. Of these, around 80,000 are in "structural vacancy" and subject to the tax. Baudrier hopes the higher levy will push owners to return roughly 20,000 properties to the rental or sales market.

It's a historic victory after ten years of battle.

He also said the measure should "discourage some owners from engaging in tax optimisation by declaring their second home as vacant." The deputy mayor argued the policy would "stop the decline in the number of primary residences in Paris and thus reverse the population decline."

Opposition criticism

Right-wing opposition members contested the city's vacancy figures and dismissed the tax hike as ineffective. Grégory Canal, co-president of the Paris Libertés group alongside Rachida Dati, called it "tax bludgeoning."

You're setting the tax at the ceiling when the law's reference rate is 17%. This isn't an incentive, it's a real increase in the tax burden.

His group has repeatedly criticised the 52% rise in property tax during Anne Hidalgo's mayoralty.

A persistent housing imbalance

The city stressed a "persistent imbalance between supply and demand." National statistics office INSEE puts the number of vacant homes at 140,000, or about 10% of the capital's total. Alongside the surcharge, the city offers support schemes for owners of vacant properties to help bring them back into use. The vote marks the culmination of a decade-long push by housing advocates to use fiscal tools to ease the capital's housing shortage.