the “battle” of tenants against the dilapidation of their social housing in Paris

The tenants of a building located at 158 ​​boulevard Davout, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, denounce their housing conditions. They are organizing a “photo exhibition” on Saturday to challenge their social landlord.

“When we go to bed, we sometimes have the feeling of sleeping in damp sheets“, explains Séverine. Installed at 158 ​​boulevard Davout for a year, this tenant tells a “endless battle“against the dilapidation of the building.”When people move in the walls are still pretty much white, as long as the paint job holds. After that comes out. With each breakthrough of humidity, you have to persist. And there is no VMC“, she laments.

“It’s a construction problem. Keepers advise removing furniture from the walls. Sometimes it trickles down the walls and they tell me it’s just condensation. They take us for fools“, adds the tenant.

“I had to invest in four fresh air dehumidifiers and I ventilate as much as possible. In autumn, we are at more than 75% humidity inside. These problems of dilapidation, it entails an additional personal cost, I am at more than 1000 euros at my expense. And I’m not to be pitied, I can count on family solidarity, some don’t have these levers. It is a disaster“, continues Severine.

“I am told that it is up to the tenant to maintain the premises, but all the problems already existed before my arrival, she points out. Cockroaches and mice were already present everywhere. I had to fill the parquet slats myself, the cockroaches lodged inside. This summer, I had to crush 20 to 30 a day, there are a lot of them. I was able to use my insurance for the cockroaches, but it would require a thorough treatment. Only a few apartments and common areas have been treated. So it comes back, it’s cyclical.“

Nina has lived in the building for 20 years. “It’s been going on for years. It’s abandoned, the tenants are left to their fate. Mice, cockroaches, mold… Personally, it made me asthmatic. And I’m not the only one, neighbors are being taken to hospital for respiratory problems. My mother coughs every night. Downstairs, it stinks of urine from the mice. There are also problems of insecurity, the building is not closed.“

The accommodations are rented by the Régie Immobilière de la Ville de Paris (RIVP), a social landlord. “The lessor does not want to spend and ignores us. They make us hope every time by talking about work. During confinement, mice were running around, someone came, but there were no consequences“, says Nina.

This Saturday at 4:30 p.m., the tenants are organizing a “expo photo“at 4 rue Louis Ganne, to show and denounce the unsanitary conditions of the place.”While going door to door, we realized that many tenants thought they were alone in this situation. The idea of ​​the action is to protest by coming together“, explains Nina.

In support of tenants, the deputy of Paris Danielle Simonnet (LFI) will participate in the event this Saturday. “I received testimonials from these exasperated tenants and I was challenged by their feeling of abandonment. My role is not simply to send letters to the lessor or the City, but to encourage the inhabitants to be heard and defend their rights by self-organizing“, she says.

“The tenants must be heard by the lessor. The City of Paris also has a responsibility. We need either immediate work, or rehousing solutions”, affirms the elected representative. “The problems of dilapidation, lack of maintenance during the lease, concern many social housing in Paris but not only“, denounces the deputy of Nupes.

Danielle Simonnet calls on the government to “stop its austerity policy towards social housing“and moreover to”urgently allocate resources for thermal rehabilitation“of these dwellings.”The State must help tenants who too often suffer from poorly maintained housing“, she adds.

“Following the resurgence of rats and mice on the site“, the RIVP explains for its part that it has “increased the number of contractual transitions from two per year to 12 per year” since July. “Regarding the technical interventions in the accommodation, we have commissioned a company since October 17 which carries out interventions in the accommodation and common areas every Monday and Thursday upon registration at the lodge.“, says the lessor.

The RIVP also indicates that it has put in place “a permanence every Thursday“, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., “to answer directly“to tenants.”A comprehensive renovation operation is planned. The project manager is in the process of being appointed. It had been agreed with the tenants’ association to carry out this operation after that of the neighboring complex“, continues the lessor.

And to affirm:Without waiting, we deal with urgent technical issues: setting up a multi-technical on-call service to respond quickly to the needs of tenants; control system for hot water tanks installed in winter to reduce the energy bill; the few dwellings suffering from humidity will be subject to the installation of an individual CMV.“

The building, whose construction dates back to the 1930s, houses 439 apartments according to the RIVP.