Homeowners whose properties are impacted by clay shrinking and swelling can now benefit from government grants in 11 departments.
The trial initiative will cover up to 90% of the costs of surveying homes and preventing damage, subject to household income levels.
Officially, 48% of France has soils rich in clay.
Houses built in these areas after 1976 – when national standards for housebuilding reduced the size of foundations in many areas and standardised the use of concrete blocks for walls – are particularly at risk of cracks.
The departments set to benefit from the government scheme are: Allier, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Dordogne, Gers, Indre, Lot-et-Garonne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nord, Puy-de-Dôme, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne.
The cash will be delivered in two phases. The first pay-out will cover up to 90% of the cost of a “vulnerability assessment” to establish the risk of cracks appearing, with the level of grant determined by declared income.
There will be a ceiling of €2,000 per grant, and the buildings surveyed must be main residences and not second homes.
SIDES, 2021
In the second phase, the state will finance 90% of support and project management for any preventative work needed, up to a €2,000 ceiling, and 80% of the work itself, up to a €15,000 ceiling.
Applications for grants in the listed departments should be made through the government platform demarches-simplifiees.
After creating a personal account, homeowners can compile their application, attach any supporting documents (tax bills, estimates, insurance certificates, etc.) and track the progress of their application.
Ad
A number of methods to reduce cracks have been developed in France, including a system in which rainwater is stored in tanks and then piped to a property’s foundations during dry spells.
Overall, some 10 million houses in France are at risk of damage from clay soils, according to a report from the Cour des Comptes.
Of these, some three million are at high risk, according to the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
Distinctive cracks due to clay shrinkage
Cracks due to clay drying out usually have one of two characteristics, either looking like stairs, or like bellows.
The joins between an original building and extension are particularly vulnerable.
New building regulations have been in place since 2020 to try to ensure new properties are stronger and better able to resist clay movements.
Key to this is analysing the soil on building plots before work begins and, where clay is present, laying deeper, larger and stronger foundations for the house.
State insurance office the Caisse Centrale de Réassurance (CCR) plays a key role in unlocking natural catastrophe funds for damage caused by clay movements.
It says claims cost it around €450million a year, with between 23,000 and 25,000 properties affected annually.
Repair costs related to this phenomenon now represent “the main burden on the natural disaster compensation system,” the Ministry for Ecological Transition said in a statement.
