Paris Sets Its Sights on Owners of Second Homes

Owning a second home or vacant apartment in Paris may soon get a whole lot more expensive. If new rules agreed to by Paris City Council this week pass through France’s parliament, taxes on second homes in the city could rise to double that for primary residences, while taxes on permanently empty residential real estate would rise by four times.

The measures come as France’s capital goes all out to increase the volume of affordable housing available to local residents. A question mark still hangs over whether the proposal will pass into law—its ratification by parliament is not guaranteed and could take some time. The plan nonetheless reveals the city’s direction of travel. It wants to discourage the use of city center homes for secondary residences, and squeeze far more revenue out of the second homeowners who do hang on.