French Parliament adopts bill creating state land company, making ministries tenants

After years of debate and deliberation, France has taken a decisive step in reforming its state property management. Parliament definitively adopted a bill on Tuesday evening, July 21, creating a land company tasked with managing state real estate assets. The reform aims to generate savings and finance the ecological transition of the state's property portfolio. Under the new framework, government administrations—including ministries—will become tenants rather than owners of their buildings.

Legislative Path

The bill, authored by former minister and former deputy of Gironde Thomas Cazenave (Renaissance), now mayor of Bordeaux, was adopted in the National Assembly by 276 votes to 86, following its approval in the Senate in early July.

The text received support from deputies across the political spectrum, from the National Rally to the Socialist Party. Other left-wing groups opposed the measure, with some denouncing what they described as a risk of dismantling public heritage under neoliberal ideology, which they argued would further weaken public services.

The bill was the subject of a compromise between deputies and senators during a joint committee, following its first-reading examination in both chambers.

A Heritage "Too Little Maintained and Poorly Managed"

The French state holds a portfolio of nearly 96 million square meters of built surface area and more than 42,000 square kilometers of undeveloped land, with an estimated value of approximately €74 billion.

The law's explanatory memorandum sets a target of reducing the real estate portfolio by 25% by 2032.

"Our heritage is too unknown, too little maintained, and poorly managed, according to a logic that is too fragmented," stated Pierre Cazeneuve (Renaissance, Hauts-de-Seine), the bill's rapporteur.

How the Land Company Will Work

• The land company will take the form of a public establishment and will own the buildings.
• The roles of owner and occupant will be separated, making administrations more accountable for the surfaces they actually use.
• Rents will be introduced to:
• Make the real cost of real estate occupancy more visible
• Encourage reduction, pooling, or disposal of unnecessary space
• Help finance the ecological transition of the portfolio

The Minister of Public Action and Accounts, David Amiel, noted that the state currently faces "an investment wall estimated by the Court of Auditors at between €140 billion and €150 billion by 2050."

The Left Divided

The creation of the land company exposed divisions within the left.

Opposition view: Shéhérazade Bentorki (La France insoumise), deputy of the North, denounced "the introduction of market logic at the very heart of the state." She argued that rents charged to ministries would lead to reductions in space and services due to a lack of additional funding.

"Behind every square meter removed, there is a counter that closes, a service that moves away, crowded agents," she declared, defending public heritage as "not a burden to liquidate, it is a wealth to preserve."

Supporting view: Sophie Pantel (Socialist Party), deputy of Lozère, justified her group's favorable vote by highlighting the reform's potential benefits.