Elected officials from twelve French cities and metropolitan areas, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and others, met in Paris on Friday, September 11, to advocate for the continuation and expansion of rent control measures. These policies, introduced by the Alur law in 2014, are currently being tested in 70 communes across the country. However, without legislative changes, the experimental phase could end by the end of November. A proposed bill, introduced by socialist deputy Iñaki Echaniz, has already passed the National Assembly and is now being considered by the Senate. The government, however, has indicated it may limit the extension of the policy to two years without making it a permanent feature of housing law. The group of mayors and officials, representing a wide range of urban and metropolitan areas, urged parliamentarians to preserve the measure, allow more cities to implement it, and improve its effectiveness. According to Grégory Doucet, the ecologist mayor of Lyon, the diversity of the cities involved demonstrates that rent control is a relevant and necessary policy. Cities like Rennes, Marseille, and Amiens, which are interested in adopting rent control, have joined the call, emphasizing that the initiative reflects the needs and desires of their residents, as noted by Audrey Garino, deputy mayor of Marseille responsible for housing. Critics of rent control often argue that it may reduce the supply of available rental housing, but Rennes Mayor Nathalie Appéré countered this by pointing out that her city already faces a shortage of rental housing and difficulties in finding accommodation, despite not having rent control. She added that implementing the measure could result in a rent decrease for one in four tenants in Rennes. Meanwhile, the Paris Urban Planning Workshop (Apur) reported that Parisian tenants could save an average of 1,019 euros between July 2024 and June 2025, amounting to 350 million euros in retained purchasing power across the city. Jacques Baudrier, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of housing, highlighted these figures as evidence of the significant impact rent control can have on residents' financial well-being.