#World news RSS feed France RSS feed Nicolas Sarkozy RSS feed Europe RSS feed Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off * Jump to content [s] * Jump to site navigation [0] * Jump to search [4] * Terms and conditions [8] Edition: UK * US Sign in Mobile About us * About us * Contact us * Press office * Guardian Print Centre * Guardian readers' editor * Observer readers' editor * Terms of service * Privacy policy * Advertising guide * Digital archive * Digital edition * Guardian Weekly * Buy Guardian and Observer photos * Subscribe Today's paper * The Guardian * Comment and debate * Editorials, letters and corrections * Obituaries * Other lives * Sport * Review * Travel * Family * Money * Work * Weekend * The Guide * Subscribe Subscribe * Subscribe to the Guardian * iPhone app * iPad edition * Kindle * Extra * Guardian Weekly * Digital edition * All our services The Guardian home ____________________ [UK and World news] Search * News * Sport * Comment * Culture * Business * Money * Life & style * Travel * Environment * TV * Data * Video * Mobile * Offers * Jobs * News * World news Sarkozy pins dream on bricks and mortar · Tax breaks designed to help French home buyers · Socialists say rising prices boom will help only rich * + Tweet this + IFRAME: http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?app_id=17841205555826 7&href=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/31/france.ange liquechrisafis1&send=false&layout=button_count&width=140&show_ faces=false&action=recommend&colorscheme=light&font=arial&heig ht=21 + [icon_reddit.gif] reddit this * Angelique Chrisafis in Paris * The Guardian, Thursday 31 May 2007 * Article history About this article Close Sarkozy pins dream on bricks and mortar This article appeared on p17 of the Main section section of the Guardian on Thursday 31 May 2007. It was published on guardian.co.uk at 09.52 BST on Thursday 31 May 2007. Paris The French president hopes to encourage a nation of tenants to become homeowners. Photograph: Bruno de Hogues/Getty While the British have rushed to buy crumbling cottages in the Dordogne and Americans have snapped up Parisian apartments, the French, often life-long tenants, have watched the "Anglo-Saxon" property craze with a mixture of bemusement and worry. But the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday stepped up his plans for a Thatcherite homeowners' revolution, as Socialists warned that his incentives for French buyers could send house prices soaring. Mr Sarkozy portrays himself as the son of an immigrant who succeeded through hard work and ambition, and he has promised the nation a "French dream" inspired by American-style social-climbing and meritocracy. The key to this new generation of strivers is bricks and mortar. Currently only 57% of French people are homeowners compared to 70% in Britain and 84% in Spain, but Mr Sarkozy wants to turn the figures around and create a "nation of property owners". He said this week that home ownership was "everyone's dream" and, when asked in February what he would do if he won the lottery, he replied he would "buy a house". Days later, he was forced to deny newspaper allegations that he benefited from a substantial discount on a luxury apartment in Paris's richest suburb which he sold last year. Mr Sarkozy promised tax breaks to help French buyers, but a row erupted this week over who would benefit. Initially the budget minister, Eric Woerth, said only those who bought homes after Mr Sarkozy's May 6 election would be eligible. But in a speech in Le Havre on Tuesday night, Mr Sarkozy - in campaign mode as he canvassed for his expected rightwing majority in June's parliamentary elections - promised that everyone in France with a mortgage on their main family home would benefit as interest repayments became tax-deductible. Estate agents were ecstatic, hoping that a potential buying spree would revive the flagging housing market in the euro zone's second-biggest economy. But the Socialist opposition warned the measure may favour the rich, and could send prices soaring to impossible levels. Bernard Cadeau, president of France's biggest estate agents' network, ORPI, tried to stem fears, telling the news agency Agence France-Presse that house prices were unlikely to immediately soar as they were linked to "a range of factors", including high demand and foreign buyers. Meanwhile, as Mr Sarkozy enjoys the highest popularity of a new French president since Charles de Gaulle returned from the political wilderness in 1958, "Sarkomania" has boosted another market. The Le Monde newspaper yesterday surveyed the Sarkozy memorabilia on eBay ranging from the free flip-flops of his party's beach campaign to signed books and photographs priced between €30 (£20) and €300, calculating that his market was bigger than those of the last two American presidents. He has already sparked a boom in political book sales with a biography and his own campaign books returning to the top of the bestseller lists. * Print this Printable version * Send to a friend * Share * Clip * Contact us * larger | smaller Email Close Recipient's email address ____________________ Your first name ____________________ Your surname ____________________ Add a note (optional) _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ Send Your IP address will be logged Share Close Short link for this page: http://gu.com/p/pbb3 * StumbleUpon * reddit * Tumblr * Digg * LinkedIn * Google Bookmarks * del.icio.us * livejournal * Facebook * Twitter Contact us Close * Report errors or inaccuracies: reader@guardian.co.uk * Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@guardian.co.uk * If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk * Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard: +44 (0)20 3353 2000 * + Advertising guide + License/buy our content World news * France · * Nicolas Sarkozy · * Europe Related * 13 Jun 2011 Chirac the liberator * 15 Aug 2007 France agog at first lady's surprise style and purpose * 17 Oct 2011 François Hollande nomination marks the triumph of Monsieur Ordinary * 26 Jan 2012 Can François Hollande beat Sarkozy? * Print this Printable version * Send to a friend * Share * Clip * Contact us * Article history Email Close Recipient's email address ____________________ Your first name ____________________ Your surname ____________________ Add a note (optional) _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ Send Your IP address will be logged Share Close Short link for this page: http://gu.com/p/pbb3 * StumbleUpon * reddit * Tumblr * Digg * LinkedIn * Google Bookmarks * del.icio.us * livejournal * Facebook * Twitter Contact us Close * Report errors or inaccuracies: reader@guardian.co.uk * Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@guardian.co.uk * If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk * Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard: +44 (0)20 3353 2000 * + Advertising guide + License/buy our content About this article Close Sarkozy pins dream on bricks and mortar This article appeared on p17 of the Main section section of the Guardian on Thursday 31 May 2007. It was published on guardian.co.uk at 09.52 BST on Thursday 31 May 2007. On World news * Most viewed * Zeitgeist * Latest Last 24 hours 1. [BBC-Persian-boss-Sadegh-S-003.jpg] 1. BBC Persian staff face Iranian intimidation 2. 2. Mormon Romney to win in Nevada and leave rest in scramble for delegates 3. 3. Iran 'trying to attack Israeli targets in retaliation for scientists' deaths' 4. 4. Costa Concordia: cruise ship rep's clothing found in captain's cabin 5. 5. Khamenei: Iran will help anyone confront Israel 6. More most viewed Last 24 hours 1. Eyewitness: Nudes float in the Dead Sea 2. Temperatures plunge in Europe â in pictures 3. Saving Spain's Socialists: ex-minister fights for control of a party in tatters 4. Fury over Homs massacre as UN security council gathers for Syria vote 5. BBC Persian staff face Iranian intimidation 6. More zeitgeist What is Zeigeist? What is Zeitgeist? Zeitgeist is an experiment in showing trending news, topics and articles from the Guardian. 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Pure by Andrew Miller £8.99 Search the Guardian bookshop ____________________ (Submit) Search Bestsellers from the Guardian shop * Neoprene gloves * Neoprene gloves * Banish cold hands and aching joints with these lightweight, fingerless unisex gloves. * From: £9.95 * Visit the Guardian reader offers shop * See all offers and services from the Guardian Sponsored feature guardian jobs Find the latest jobs in your sector: * Arts & heritage * Charities * Education * Environment * Government * Graduate * Health * Marketing & PR * Media * Sales * Senior executive * Social care Browse all jobs international_______ Search Chief Executive London | £70,000-£90,000 DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE Related information World news * France · * Nicolas Sarkozy · * Europe Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy Sarkozy reignites war of words with UK 30 Jan 2012 French president says Britain 'has no industry left', while German chancellor Angela Merkel pledges to help Sarkozy on the campaign trail * 22 Jan 2012 Francois Hollande stages first major rally in 2012 French presidential race * 16 May 2007 Sarkozy replaces Chirac * 6 May 2007 Sarkozy set to unleash new French revolution * 22 Sep 2007 Socialists belittle Sarkozy over reform [Sarkozy-TV-interview-003.jpg] (1min 20sec) Sarkozy on eurozone crisis and France's deficit - video 30 Jan 2012 French president Nicolas Sarkozy says measures he has taken have helped stabilise the economic crisis in France and in the eurozone Morevideo * Hot topics * US elections 2012 * Eurozone crisis * Syria * London 2012 Olympics * Oscars 2012 * License/buy our content | * Privacy policy | * Terms & conditions | * Advertising guide | * Accessibility | * A-Z index | * Inside the Guardian blog | * About us | * Work for us | * Join our dating site today * © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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