Nearly 35,000 homes were vacant in Reunion in 2020, according to an INSEE study, or 8,9% of all housing on the island. This proportion is quite close to the national level.
Nine municipalities on the island, including the three most populated (St Denis, St.Paul, Saint Pierre), are affected by the 2021 national plan to combat vacant housing, who redefined tense areas. They are mainly located in large municipalities where there is a marked imbalance between housing supply and demand., generating a high level of rents and significant acquisition prices, which restrict access to property. In these areas, owners of such accommodation are subject to a tax. The share of vacant housing is a little higher than the regional average (10% in Saint-Paul, 9,7% in Saint-Pierre and Saint-Denis). However, it is even higher in the circus communes (15,2% in Cilaos and 14,4% in Salazie), in the municipalities of the South-East (Sainte-Rose and Saint-Philippe), in Saint-Benoît and Trois-Bassins, where the need for housing is less strong. The study also shows that, between 2014 and 2020, the share of vacant housing on the island increased from 8,3% to 8,9 %. This increase is twice as marked as at the national level. It notably increases by 4,7 points in Saint-Philippe and 3,7 points in Sainte-Rose.
