Publication: Economic Effects of Upfront Subsidies to Ownership : The Case of the Pret a Taux Zero in France
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2008
ISSN
10511377
Published
2008
Author(s)
Gobillon, Laurent
le Blanc, David
Abstract
This article analyses some effects of the French upfront subsidy to homeownership called Pret a Taux Zero (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.