Economic effects of upfront subsidies to ownership: The case of the Prêt à Taux Zéro in France

Laurent Gobillon and David le Blanc

Journal of Housing Economics, 2008, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-33

Abstract: This article analyses some effects of the French upfront subsidy to homeownership called Prêt à Taux Zéro (PTZ) introduced in 1996. The PTZ can be viewed as a downpayment subsidy to low and middle-income first-time buyers. The effects of the subsidy are modelled by simulating the introduction of the PTZ in an econometric model of mobility and tenure choice estimated on micro-data. Our results show that the PTZ significantly increases access to ownership by allowing some households to leave the rental sector sooner. However, the PTZ generates a large windfall effect. We estimate that 85% of the beneficiaries in a 4-year period would still have moved to own in the absence of the subsidy. As a consequence, the PTZ has a rather low multiplier effect, which we estimate at around 1.3. Our simulations also show that the PTZ may not help to improve the overall quality of new construction in France.

Date: 2008
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