Sale of Shares in Arles’ Sempa to Private Lessor Raises Concerns over Loss of Public Tool

For the majority of Arles, it is a redemption that ” allows you to withdraw financially from your semi-public company (Sempa) “, too indebted and of” finance the Tarascon urban renewal project “. For the elected Communists of opposition, it is rather a question of a ” loss of sovereignty “. On April 13, during the last city council, the right-wing majority approved the sale of all the shares of Sempa held by the City, i.e. 55% of the share capital, to the third largest French private lessor, Vilogia, for a price of 4.6 million euros. ” The housing stock of 1 704 housing is extremely aging and requires investment, justified the mayor Patrick de Carolis (Horizons). However, Sempa’s finances cannot support them, since it is indebted to the tune of 50 millions of euros. Another advantage, according to the majority: compliance with the Élan law, which requires that each social landlord has a housing stock of more than 12,000 housing units. But among opposition politicians, the decision worries.

From an accounting point of view, Jean-Frédéric Déjean, elected opposition communist, sees no need for this sale. ” La Sempa at 20 million euros of equity, we were not obliged to make this choice now, he explains. Other solutions could have been found. The City, for example, could have recapitalized to reinject money into it. ” For him, an electoral interest is hidden behind this sale: ” This money will be used to make investments and road works. We mortgage the future for a short-term vision. »

Nicolas Koukas, leader of the opposition group, sees this as the loss of a public tool. ” The Sempa has a rental component but also a development perspective component on the territory over which the City will no longer have control. ” The elected officials, who will no longer sit on the board of directors of the social landlord, fear ” trade a possibility of deciding against a permanent negotiation ».

If the opposition is also worried, it is also because the private group Vilogia has a reputation that precedes it. In 2019, a Cash Investigation shed light on the company’s illegal practices, driven by profit interests. Two years earlier, the Court of Auditors had singled out the private lessor, pointing to maintenance costs falling by 49% between 2011 and 2015. There’s something to worry about “, emphasizes Nicolas Koukas. Sempa’s board of directors will meet on May 10 to decide on the matter.