Key points
- Agents accept requests for “European” tenants
- Racism persists despite being a criminal offence
- Government plans mandatory anti-discrimination training
PARIS, France: Nearly one in two real estate agencies in France accept or facilitate racially discriminatory requests from landlords, according to a new survey by SOS Racisme, highlighting what campaigners describe as the persistent gap between anti-discrimination laws and practices in the country’s housing market.
The anti-discrimination group “SOS Racisme” contacted 198 real estate agencies in 2025, posing as landlords and requesting “European” tenants as a way to avoid “neighbourhood problems”.
Of the 198 agencies, 48 (24.2 percent) agreed to select tenants on such a basis, while another 48 allowed or encouraged the prospective landlord to select them on a racial basis themselves, according to the report that was revealed by Le Parisien, reports AFP.
That means that almost half encouraged or enabled racial prejudice, while 102 agencies (51.5 percent) refused to discriminate and explicitly opposed tenant selection based on racial criteria.
The survey “highlights a worrying persistence of discriminatory practices that are nevertheless prohibited under criminal law”, SOS Racisme stated in a press release.
Discrimination
Equality Minister Aurore Berge, reacting to the results, told Le Parisien that “the SOS Racisme report shows there is still a long way to go” and reiterated that “discrimination is illegal”.
Berge announced the introduction of mandatory discrimination training for all real estate agents. Training is currently only compulsory for professional license holders – less than half of all agents.
She said a decree could be expected “in the coming weeks”.
SOS Racisme conducted similar surveys in 2019 and 2022, and the latest findings show no improvement: in 2022, 48.5 percent of 136 agencies directly accepted (25 percent) or facilitated (23.5 percent) discriminatory requests.
In a letter addressed to lawmakers and seen by AFP, SOS Racisme president Dominique Sopo on Sunday called on deputies to “speak out loud and clear” against discrimination.
