The wedding – enforced by law – of public social landlords Pays d’Aix Habitat (PAH) and Habitat Marseille Provence (HMP) were formalized on April 26. As it is customary when we talk about Metropolis, Maryse Joissains, LR mayor of Aix-en-Provence, had complained in a letter to the prefect (and to the president, and to the Prime Minister …) on the « reputation » by HMP. An audit of its own HLM office by the National Social Housing Control Agency (ANCLS), to which The Marseillaise had access, risk of establishing his superiority complex.
In Pays d’Aix Habitat (6,000 housing units, mainly in the Aix area) the ANCLS praises the « low overall vacancy of housing, a good financial structure and a high level of cash flow, low debt and the ability to invest, a large proportion of the stock renovated or under renovation, very attractive rents, control of rental charges ». The new governance of the Aix-Marseille Provence housing metropolis, which now brings together PAH and HMP, will nevertheless be responsible for doing better on several points.
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Delays in deliveries
If in 2019, the year audited, the overall vacancy rate of the park was satisfactory (1.7% against 3.9% in PACA and 4.6 nationally), the vacancy period or relocation period is too long, indicates the ANCLS. Seven months. « This period appears too long in relation to the nature of the relocation work to be carried out. The delays observed between the allocation of housing and the signing of the lease are also long. The re-rental process, from notice to signing a new lease, does not appear to be efficient », writes the ANCLS. Who then calls the Aix management on personnel costs (152.5 FTE in 2019) which « weigh heavily on the management costs and profitability of the OPH (Office public HLM). The choice to maintain a significant presence in the field does not fully explain the overstaffing compared to the average of DPOs since, for example, the cleaning of the parties municipalities is fully outsourced. » Another grievance, which will not surprise any observer of Aix’s political life: the City does not respect its own housing forecasts. During the previous inspection in 2014, Pays d’Aix Habitat « had posted a production forecast of 427 housing between 2014 and 2016, at the end of 2019 this target was only reached 39%, despite the past three additional years ».
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“Malfunctions”
Finally, the National Housing Control Agency ticks the housing allocation policy which, if it “ does not call for a major observation », Undergoes « malfunctions ». PAH devra « put an end to certain dysfunctions in the choice of beneficiaries which result in the observation of too many irregular allocations (…) and guarantee, in full transparency, the respect of the priority rules defined by the legislation and also achieve the objectives of Diversity ».
Enough to now feed the roadmap of the Aix-Marseille housing metropolis.
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