Some 9.7 million people in France, a third of all homeowners, own at least two properties, either individually or jointly, new data from Insee revealed.
The French statistics office notes that people who own more than one property tend to be older and “more well-off.” Six in ten of this cohort own two homes, while 3% own ten or more.
“The more properties they own, the higher is their standard of living,” Insee said.
Two out of three homes in the private sector are owned by at least one owner, a trend that is particularly common in areas with high tourist numbers and central areas of major cities, with these owners typically renting out additional properties close to their home. However, this trend varies from region to region, Insee notes.
Notably, half of all homes privately rented out are owned by individuals who own five or more properties, although such landlords make up only 4% of property owners.
According to separate Insee data, around five million households in metropolitan France, representing 17.4% of the market, are in a state of “energy vulnerability,” meaning that they have to spend a greater proportion of their income on energy to maintain standard levels of comfort in their homes than other households.
Insee data from 2021 showed that half of vulnerable households are made up of single people aged 60 and over, with vulnerability varying by location, as well as factors such as climate, urban density and income level.
In rural areas, where the housing stock consists of individual dwellings, often of large size, and where the use of domestic fuel oil is still common, energy vulnerability tends to be higher, Insee notes.
