“We feel punished for raising our children alone”: a bill wants to put an end to parents’ real estate woes

“Alone, madam, it’s not possible. » This sentence, Carole (the first name has been changed), 28 years old, heard it like a cleaver in the mouth of his banker. A teacher in the Loiret, this mother of two children nevertheless displays a profile that many would consider ideal: with a permanent contract in the public service, impeccable accounts, no management discrepancies. But, since her separation, the dream of offering a garden to her children aged 4 and 6 has been smashed against the wall of banking constraints.

“I’m looking to buy a small pavilion, not a castle,” confides the teacher. “The amount of monthly credit payments that I request is barely higher than the rent that I pay without any delay each month. But, for the banks, the box single with two children erase everything else. I am automatically refused because I am alone. It is a double psychological and social punishment. We feel punished for raising our children alone. »

Thousands of families are experiencing this financial “glass ceiling”. A reality which pushed the MP (Liot) for Loiret Constance de Pélichy to step up to the plate. This Tuesday, May 19, the parliamentarian defended in the Finance Committee a bill aimed at creating a specific zero-interest loan (PTZ) for families.

Without resource conditions

This text was born from an alarming observation made during the birth mission that she chaired. “Today, housing constitutes a major obstacle to the realization of a desire to have a child,” protests the elected official. “Three quarters of couples who have given up having a child say they gave up due to lack of suitable accommodation. It’s just unbearable to think that, in this country, people are giving up the best thing in life because they can’t find housing! »

The existing system? Unsuitable, according to her. Currently, the PTZ is reserved for first-time buyers and subject to strict resource conditions. “If you are an executive and you earn a little too well, you are not entitled to it,” explains Constance de Pélichy. “However, in certain territories, you have to earn a very good living to hope to buy. Result: barely 50% of current PTZ beneficiaries are families. »

The MP therefore proposes a specific PTZ, unblocked from the declaration of pregnancy at birth, capped at 100,000 euros and accessible without conditions of resources, including for parents who are already owners who need more space for a growing family, or to cope with soaring interest rates.

Because the problem affects all family configurations. On social networks and the MP’s office, distress messages are piling up. Like this letter sent by a mother: “My husband and I have always dreamed of starting a big family. We own a two bedroom house. Despite our executive salaries, buying bigger has become impossible. All agencies confirm that if we sell today, we are selling at a loss. We borrowed at 1.35% three years ago, and today we should borrow again at 3.4%. Our plan for a second child has therefore been at a standstill since last December. Your proposal gives us hope. »

A cautious Minister of the Economy

Even for those who eventually get there, the journey is akin to an economic path of the cross. Mickaël, municipal police officer in Orléans (Loiret) and father of two children, took four to five years to realize his new real estate project with his partner, despite two stable permanent contracts. His blockage? He had already been an owner.

“The zero-interest loan passed us by because I had already owned a property,” he explains. “To succeed in rebuilding bigger and settling in the countryside, we had to use major means: sell our house and start renting again, the time to replenish a contribution of 20,000 to 30,000 euros required by the banks. Between the explosion in the cost of materials and interest rates since 2022, current loans such as car or motorcycle immediately weigh down your debt rate. However, we are not the most to be pitied, but the system is crazy cumbersome. »

It remains to convince the government to relax credit rules. If the Minister of the Economy was cautious, the text arouses strong interest within the hemicycle. The issue, for Constance de Pélichy, goes beyond political lines: “What is more important for a State than investing in its children? We are dead if we do not allow today’s parents to have the children they want,” protests the MP.

This parliamentary debate is in line with Emmanuel Macron’s recent attempts to stem the fall in the birth rate and to encourage the French’s desire to have a child, points out the MP. But, while the executive is mainly focusing on the time-sharing aspect, in particular through the birth leave system which will come into force on July 1, MP Liot’s proposed law recalls another reality: for many parents, the first barrier to overcome is not the calendar, but that of housing.