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Marine Le Pen outlines ‘national preference’ policies for French housing sector
Far-right candidate wants citizens to have priority access to social housing and to exclude non-citizens from housing benefits
Marine Le Pen has reaffirmed that ‘national priority’ for French citizens for public services – including housing – will remain a cornerstone policy of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) for the 2027 presidential election.
Ms Le Pen, who will run as the party’s presidential candidate in the spring election, confirmed the policy in a speech on Sunday (September 13) at Hénin-Beaumont (Pas-de-Calais), a town within her MP constituency.
“We will guarantee a natural and fair right for all French people,” she said.
“French citizens, regardless of skin colour or religion, origin or residence, will have priority in their own country,“ she added, including going to the top of lists for social housing over non-French applicants.
She also outlined plans to restrict France’s housing benefit (Aide personnalisée au logement, APL) to only French citizens.
It comes as a fresh round of polls reiterates Ms Le Pen’s spot as the candidate to beat in the election, obtaining between 33% to 35% of the first-round vote regardless of the scenario and other candidates she would face.
Le Pen focuses on housing drive
“Housing will be at the heart of my presidential platform. If I am elected, it will be one of the major undertakings of my five-year term,” said Ms Le Pen.
Another major housing policy would be the abolition of the SRU law (Solidarité et renouvellement urbains), which requires local authorities to ensure a certain portion of the housing stock in their jurisdiction is social housing.
This would make it easier for part of the nation’s social housing stock to be sold off allowing people to become homeowners – limited to French citizens – reminiscent of a similar council housing sell-off scheme in the UK under Margaret Thatcher.
“There is nothing more gratifying than the feeling of harmony within one’s home [and] being able to say, 'I am in my own home,'” Ms Le Pen said.
To bolster the number of social units available, developers would be able to take over public land free of charge in return for building ‘thousands’ of homes with affordable rents, and there would be a drive to convert vacant office space into housing units.
The RN wants to “unleash construction, enhance the value of existing housing stock, and encourage and protect homeownership.”
Other major policies in the sector would include a new, harsher ‘anti-squatting law’, as well as an overhaul of energy renovation schemes.
Ms Le Pen would abolish the MaPrimeRénov’ scheme, which part-funds ecological renovations, with a ‘100% Rénov’ programme that offers zero-interest loans covering the total of work, but all of which must be paid back to the state.
She also said VAT would be cut from 20% to 5.5% for gas, electricity and heating oil.
National preference for French in several areas
Ms Le Pen’s speech – the unofficial start of her campaign trail for the presidential election following a quiet August – did not touch on other elements of the party’s manifesto.
Areas including immigration, the war in Ukraine, France’s relation to the EU, and France’s pension reforms, were not discussed, but will be the focus of future debates and rallies.
The speech however indicates that the party will continue to back national priority, sometimes called national preference, in several areas in its manifesto.
These policies offer French citizens preference – or outright exclude non-citizens – from certain benefits or schemes, and have been central to the party’s political ethos since the days of Ms Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Alongside housing, national priority or citizen exclusivity for benefits, pensions and employment have often been touted as important policies by the RN.
A party document from 2024 (published after that summer’s legislative elections) outlined how national preference would work for jobs.
Companies would be obliged to review the citizenship of candidates, and offer a job to an eligible French citizen over any non-citizen candidate if one could be found.
However, certain highly-skilled foreign candidates would still be eligible for employment in certain sectors.
It remains unclear whether a nationals-first policy in the vein that the RN promotes it would be possible under France’s constitution, due to its exclusory nature. Law experts have previously told The Connexion that the plan clashes with international law principles.
The party is yet to publish its full manifesto for 2027, but Sunday’s speech points towards national priority retaining its place as a flagship policy for the party in several areas.
