In 2020, more than 18,600 housing units were vacant in Paris on a long-term basis. Although spread among all districts, they were over-represented in the central business area - Quartier Central des Affaires - on both the left and the right bank of the river Seine, in the 6th and 7th districts.
These housing units were identified via the “LOVAC” file, a tool made available to local authorities by the State in the context of the national plan to combat vacant housing launched in 2020. It makes it possible to identify housing declared vacant by the owner to the tax offices for more than two years, i.e. a situations of long-term vacancy, named “structural” vacancy. In the INSEE population census, vacancy was higher (117,082 vacant housing units in 2017) because its definition covers a wider perimeter which includes, in addition to “structural” vacancy, “frictional” vacancy, i.e. short-term vacancy.
