New DPE 2026: what changes for buyers and owners in Paris

The DPE changed its calculation method on 1 January 2026. The electricity conversion coefficient dropped from 2.3 to 1.9, allowing approximately 850,000 homes in France to exit thermal sieve status without carrying out any works. For Parisian buyers and owners, the consequences are direct: on prices, transactions and renovation obligations.

What exactly changes in the DPE on 1 January 2026?

Only one parameter changes: the electricity conversion coefficient drops from 2.3 to 1.9, under the decree of 13 August 2025. Roughly 700,000 to 850,000 homes gain one or two energy classes as a result, with no works at all, mainly studios and 2-room flats heated by electricity.

The old coefficient penalised electrically heated properties by overestimating their primary energy consumption. A 25 m² studio with electric convectors ended up rated F or G even with decent insulation. The reform aligns France with the European energy efficiency directive.

The DPE calculation still relies on the 3CL method and the five standard uses (heating, hot water, air conditioning, lighting, auxiliaries). The A to G labels remain unchanged. Only the weighting of electricity changes, which mechanically benefits all-electric properties.

Small units are the main beneficiaries. Parisian studios and 2-room apartments, very often equipped with electric radiators, enjoy a double positive effect: the new coefficient and the specific small-surface weighting coefficient introduced in 2024. A property rated G can move to F, or even E, without any physical modification.

What is the impact of the new DPE on the Paris property market?

A property that exits thermal sieve status escapes the progressive rental bans planned under the Climat et Résilience law, and loses part of its discount at the same time. The ban schedule itself is unchanged: renting is prohibited for class G since 2025, for class F from 2028, and for class E from 2034.

For buyers, this reform changes the negotiation calculation. An apartment rated F under the pre-2026 DPE could justify a discount of 10 to 15% linked to the estimated cost of renovation work. If that same property moves to class E under the new calculation, this negotiation margin shrinks. Our property hunters systematically check whether the DPE displayed in a listing was calculated using the old or the new coefficient.

Conversely, gas or oil-heated properties receive no reclassification benefit. The reform specifically targets electrically heated properties, creating a new dividing line in the market. Prices per m2 by arrondissement are progressively integrating this data.

What should you check on the DPE before buying in Paris?

Four points need checking before making an offer: the date of the diagnostic, the coefficient used in the calculation, the type of heating and the surface area. A DPE carried out before 1 July 2021 is no longer valid, and a DPE issued between 2021 and 2025 on an electrically heated property can be updated free of charge on the ADEME DPE-Audit Observatory website, without calling a diagnostics professional back in.

The DPE therefore remains an indicator to examine closely during a viewing: the energy class shown in a listing does not say which coefficient produced it.

Co-ownerships of 50 units or fewer must have a collective DPE from 2026 onwards. This obligation can reveal upcoming works on common areas, useful information for assessing future charges.

If you are considering a property purchase in Paris, the energy performance of the property is both a negotiation lever and a long-term value driver. Properties rated A to D sell on average for 10% more than those rated E to G, for comparable surface area and location. Energy renovation remains a worthwhile investment, especially as 2026 subsidies are available to support owners.