In a bid to uphold his election campaign promises, French President Francois Hollande is preparing a decree that may limit rent increases.
According to the daily Liberation, Housing Minister Cecile Duflot said the idea was not to freeze rents, which have soared in areas like Paris and along the Mediterranean coast, but to limit from charging above-inflation increases.
"We have been working on this since I took office a fortnight ago," Duflot said. "This is an emergency measure in response to the housing crisis."
The French government aims to finalize the decree by the end of the month and have the measure come into effect around September, Duflot added.
Hollande took power last month after voters punished conservative former President Nicolas Sarkozy for three years of economic crisis and rampant unemployment that has left many households struggling
"Unlike other European countries where rents are regulated, we are in an intolerable situation in France, where it has become impossible for young people and many households to pay for housing, meaning they have to flee Paris and big cities," she said.
From 2001 to 2011, rent prices in Paris has escalated by 50 percent, led by an increase in foreign buyers, according to the city’s rent watchdog.