Increased demand, reduced budget, fraud... Why is the MaPrimeRenov' scheme being suspended?

By The New Obs

Published on June 4, 2025 at 8:19 p.m.

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Reading time: 3 min.

The scheme, launched in 2020 to encourage energy renovations, will be suspended due to "current congestion and excessive fraud," said Economy Minister Eric Lombard. This is a severe blow for industry players, elected officials, and individuals.

It's confirmed. A victim of its own success, the MaPrimeRénov' energy renovation scheme will indeed be suspended, confirmed Economy Minister Eric Lombard on Wednesday, June 4. While he did not specify the date of the scheme's suspension, several government sources have mentioned July in recent days, as reported by " Le Parisien " on Tuesday. Economy Minister Eric Lombard did, however, specify that he wanted to reinstate it "before the end of the year."

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On MaPrimeRénov', " there is both congestion at the moment and an excess of fraud (...) hence the suspension," he declared during questions to the government in the Senate. "But naturally, once this is resolved, the process can continue," he added, later specifying, before the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, that the government had "every intention of restoring operation before the end of the year." "It is not a question of making savings in secret like that, by blocking the system," he specified.

The number of homes renovated with MaPrimeRénov' subsidies tripled at the start of the year, while the State's budget for 2025 had been reduced in the finance law, to align with the amounts consumed in 2024. According to the National Housing Agency (ANAH), more than 100,000 renovation projects have been initiated since the start of the year, against a State-set target of 350,000 energy renovations, including 100,000 comprehensive renovations.

12% of suspicious files

While MaPrimeRénov' finances up to 90% of the cost of work for a major renovation , the number of homes that were able to benefit from it tripled in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, according to figures from the National Housing Agency (Anah) published at the end of April, while the budget planned by the State for 2025 had been reduced in the finance law, to align with the amounts consumed in 2024.

Enough to quickly exhaust resources for the year 2025. "Given the rise in housing renovation, which is not surprising, it was certain that there would be a problem," Manuel Domergue, director of studies at the Foundation for Housing for the Disadvantaged (formerly the Abbé Pierre Foundation), told AFP.

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The problem is now real: seven local authorities in the Grand Est region have written to the ministry to warn that their MaPrimeRénov' budget has been exhausted. The Ardèche department is facing the same funding shortage, as is the Lyon metropolitan area and many other regions responsible for distributing aid to low- and very low-income households for the comprehensive renovation of their homes.

Furthermore, Eric Lombard told the senators of the Economic Affairs Committee, "the instability of the rules (...) also allows fraudsters to organize themselves," he argued, referring to "16,000 suspicious files" or "12% of the stock."

The news has angered elected officials and industry stakeholders. "An absolute catastrophe," according to Jacques Baudrier, PCF deputy mayor of Paris responsible for housing. "The environmental transition in the building sector requires public money, otherwise it won't happen," warns Manuel Domergue.

For their part, energy renovation companies are also worried: "If MaPrimeRénov' is halted, it will be brutal," fears Jean-Christophe Repon, president of the building trades union, Capeb. A "freeze" of MaPrimeRénov' "would break the decarbonization momentum underway, disorganize building companies and discourage households. The entire energy renovation ecosystem would be reduced to nothing," grumbles the French Building Federation, which describes the hypothesis of suspending aid in the second half of the year as "unacceptable."

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Fears shared by the National Agency for Housing Information (ANIL), which is concerned about the "signal of instability" sent "to households and professionals in the sector" . "This decision, if it were to materialize, would confirm a culpable lack of political will to make energy renovation a true national priority, commensurate with the colossal climatic and social challenges," ANIL continues.

The government has already begun looking for financial solutions to boost MaPrimeRénov' without further increasing the public deficit. It plans to modify the rules governing energy savings certificates (CEE) to encourage companies to finance major renovations, which would have an impact "in 2026," according to Damien Demailly, deputy director of the climate economics research institute I4CE.

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