Insulation, windows and roofing for Riviera homes, from English-speaking specialists

Buyers from Manchester or Hamburg expect a Mediterranean house to be cheap to run. Then the first February electricity bill lands. Walk round an older villa in Vence or a village house in Biot. You'll usually find single panes in timber frames and a terracotta roof with nothing between the tiles and the bedroom ceiling. The walls are stone or hollow brick, with no insulating layer anywhere.

The breakdown from ADEME (the French environment and energy agency) for a poorly insulated house puts the roof first among the leaks, then the walls, then air leaks and ventilation, with the windows last. In July the flow reverses. A tiled roof in full afternoon sun keeps warming the rooms below until midnight.

So insulation here pays off in August as much as in January. The DPE now carries a summer-comfort indicator next to the energy grade. Exterior shutters help too: they stop the sun before it reaches the glass.

On their own, nothing. A decree of 25 August 2026 took insulation, windows, ventilation, thermodynamic and solar water heaters and wood stoves out of the single-measure route (parcours par geste) for applications filed from 1 September 2026. Wall insulation had already gone on 1 January.

Insulation and windows are still funded inside MaPrimeRénov' rénovation d'ampleur, the whole-house route. It needs your principal residence, over 15 years old and rated E, F or G. An energy audit comes first, a Mon Accompagnateur Rénov' adviser is mandatory, and the project must gain at least two DPE classes. A window order on its own doesn't qualify. Our MaPrimeRénov' guide walks through it.

CEE premiums from the energy suppliers are now the main cash aid for a single insulation or window job, on a main or second home. An RGE contractor has to do the work, and the result has to meet the grant's minimum insulation level, so ask for that figure on the devis (written quote). The Côte d'Azur sits in the lowest CEE climate band, so premiums here are small. Each energy supplier sets its own amount, so compare offers, and accept the supplier's offer before you sign the devis.

TVA at 5.5% covers roof, wall and floor insulation, windows, insulating shutters and mobile solar protection in any home finished more than two years ago, main or holiday home. The rate has no RGE condition, and you certify the building's age and use on the devis or invoice. The fair comparison is 10%, the rate on other improvement work, so the reduced rate saves 4.5% of the price before tax. Roof repairs and a ravalement without insulation stay at 10%.

The Éco-PTZ is an interest-free loan, and insulation and windows are still on its list. Ceilings are 7,000 EUR for a windows-only project, 15,000 EUR for one other measure, 25,000 EUR for two and 30,000 EUR for three or more, over up to 20 years. It's for a principal residence only, in a house over two years old, with an RGE contractor.

A French devis is a contract once you sign it, and for this work its figures decide whether you get CEE, the Éco-PTZ and the 5.5% rate. A single line reading "isolation combles" with one total can't be checked and can't back a grant claim. Ask for these, line by line:

• Surface. Square metres per element, and each window's size.
• The performance figure. The product name and the insulation figure the grant requires. If it isn't written down, the CEE claim will bounce.
• The RGE number for this trade. RGE is issued per trade, so a heat-pump RGE on an insulation devis fails the CEE and Éco-PTZ checks.
• Who files the DP, and whether the start date waits for the mairie's answer.
• Scaffolding as its own line. On roofing and facade work it's one of the biggest lines.
• Removal and waste, including the trip to the déchetterie (council tip).
• TVA per line: 5.5% on the energy work, 10% on the rest.
• Garantie décennale (ten-year building insurance). Insurer and policy number; see what the guarantee covers.

Get at least two written quotes laid out this way, so you can compare them line by line. The contractors we work with expect to be asked for all of it, in English.