Focus on the new multi-year works plan imposed on co-ownerships

The multi-year works plan is a new obligation resulting from the promulgation in August 2021 of the Climate and Resilience Act, which originates from the work of the Citizens’ Convention on Climate. The guiding principle remains the will to renovate and modernise housing at national level, and various measures, including this one, are designed to organise action more precisely. How will this multi-year works plan impact French property owners, and within what timeframe? Here are the answers provided to date by the government.

What obligation is being imposed?

The principle is straightforward: a multi-year works plan must be drawn up every ten years by co-ownership syndicates, where the building is over 15 years old. To determine what must be included, a building analysis and an energy performance certificate (EPC) must be carried out, which will guide the co-ownership towards compliance with current standards.

The works covered are those essential for safeguarding the building, those necessary for preserving the health and safety of occupants, and those useful for improving the energy rating. The measure has a dual purpose: to enable owners who are not always aware of the real needs of their co-ownership in terms of maintenance and modernisation, and to make up for the delay French co-ownerships have accumulated in renovation, particularly in insulation.

Regarding funding, the existing obligation to contribute to a works fund is retained: a contribution is required, of a minimum of 5% of the provisional budget or 2.5% of the total amount of the approved works plan.

Staggered implementation

The obligation will come into force progressively, to give the smallest co-ownerships time to organise themselves. Three deadlines have been announced:

• 1st January 2023 for co-ownerships with more than 200 lots,
• 1st January 2024 for those with 50 to 199 lots,
• 1st January 2025 for those with fewer than 50 lots.

The multi-year works plan must be presented at the first general meeting following its preparation, and placed on the agenda of each subsequent meeting, to ensure its implementation and to manage its schedule.

The content of the multi-year works plan

In concrete terms, the plan must contain all the elements, costed and prioritised over time, ensuring the achievement of the objective set following the building analysis and energy performance certificate. This objective must at minimum enable the co-ownership to comply with legal obligations, and may be expanded according to the wishes of the co-owners, to enhance the attractiveness and comfort, if not the value, of their building.

The primary aim for the co-ownerships concerned will obviously be to exit the “energy-inefficient” status, therefore the F and G rating of the EPC, to which is added, finally added by MPs to the aforementioned law, the E rating.

The planned works must be costed, in order to give co-owners visibility. Prioritisation by degree of urgency will also ensure that human health is addressed first, before aiming for increased comfort and participation in the collective effort to reduce energy consumption.

Without any legal obligation to renovate, the co-ownership stock in France tends to age, yet it is nevertheless in the interest of co-owners to maintain it. A well-insulated and renovated building gains value, thanks to improved aesthetics and better comfort, and the objective may be to recoup the investment in works upon resale. Let us hope this multi-year works plan will enable this observation to be made, for households who will have been able to spread the expenditure involved in its implementation over time.