They were meant to insulate homes for the most vulnerable: the state ends five energy‑retrofit programmes

This is a “brutal” decision, according to the organizations concerned. Last week, on October 20, the State confirmed to them that it was putting an end to the agreement for at least five programs dedicated to the energy renovation of very modest households and local authorities, according to these organizations. These are, exactly, the Actee programs (intended for communities), Toits d'Abord (supported by the Housing Foundation and intended for very social housing), Territories zero energy exclusion (consisting of supporting "end to end" very modest households), but also Tims and Slime (both supported by the Cler network, formerly the Renewable Energy Liaison Committee).

In detail, the latter will no longer be able to be financed by the "precarious" segment of Energy Saving Certificates (EEC) next year, which nevertheless represented a significant part of their budget. In total, these programs represented a budget of around 100 million euros in 2026, dedicated to energy renovation for very modest audiences, according to the media Politico. “The State has chosen, through this decision, directly or indirectly, to reach out to the most precarious,” explains Florian Huyghe to BFM Business, deputy director at the Housing Foundation, which co-finances Toit d’Abord (2.6 million euros from the CEE, out of a total of 5.2 million euros).

“These programs work with the most precarious people, those who are most impacted by inflation and the cost of living. For them, it is a double punishment,” he laments. “Refocusing CEEs on electrification” Launched in recent years (the oldest being Toits d'Abord, initiated in 2012), these programs aim to “complement” existing energy renovation systems by addressing audiences who are “excluded” from them, explain their stakeholders.

“It’s a delicate work”, with approved associations and local elected officials, explains Florian Huyghe, on behalf of the Toits d’Abord program, which co-finances the renovation or construction of 400 to 500 “very social” housing units (PLAIs) each year, at a rate of around 10,000 euros per housing unit. “It is, for example, the financing of the renovation of small housing in a village in the Gers, of very social housing located in a condominium, of an old baptistery transformed into housing to accommodate isolated elderly people, young workers, people victims of violence etc.

Operations that large institutional players do not finance, because it does not correspond to their economic model", he explains. The government, contacted by Politico, explains that it has "decided to refocus the CEE on electrification”, supports the office of the Minister of Energy, Maud Bregeon. "The idea is not to increase (the volumes) of CEE obligations (...

Machine-translated from French