Limiting the construction of social housing in towns which own more than 40%: this is the debate that has animated parliamentarians for several weeks. In Île-de-France, 42 municipalities would be concerned.
The Ile-de-France region has more than 1.3 million social housing units, or around a quarter of the national low-cost housing stock. In Île-de-France, the social rental stock represents 25% of main residences, while it is only 15% in the rest of France. Unsurprisingly, it is also the region that lists the most cities with more than 40% of social housing, even up to nearly 70% for one of them.
In the region, three cities form the top three, with more than 60% of HLM dwellings: Dugny (69.2%) and L’Île-Saint-Denis (61%), in Seine-Saint-Denis (93 ), followed by Bagneux (60.4%), in Hauts-de-Seine (92). If a law is passed to “regulate the production of social housing in municipalities which already have more than 40%”, 39 other municipalities in Ile-de-France would also be concerned.
Thirteen of them have between 50 and 60% social housing: Trappes and La Verrière, in Yvelines (78), Fleury-Mérogis, in Essonne (91), Gennevilliers, Villeneuve-la-Garenne and Nanterre, in the Hauts -de-Seine (92), Stains and Villetaneuse, in Seine-Saint-Denis (93), Valenton, Bonneuil-sur-Marne and Orly, in Val-de-Marne (94) as well as Villiers-le-Bel and Sarcelles, in the Val d’Oise (95).
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Twenty-six others have between 40 and 50%. Among them, Le Mée-sur-Seine, Montereau-Fonlt-Yonne, Bagneaux-sur-Loing, Lizy-sur-Ourcq and Champagne-sur-Seine, in Seine-et-Marne (77), Gyancourt, Achères, Chanteloup- les-Vignes, Les Mureaux and Mantes-la-Jolie, in Yvelines (78), Les Ulis, Epinay-sous-Sénart and Grigny, in Essonne (91), Châtenay-Malabry, in Hauts-de-Seine (92 ), Bobigny, La Courneuve, Noisy-le-Sec, Bagnolet, Bondy, Saint-Denis, Romainville and Pré-Saint-Gervais, in Seine-Saint-Denis (93), Gentilly and Arcueil, in Val-de- Marne (94) as well as Gonesse and Garges-lès-Gonesse, in the Val d’Oise (95).
a binding agreement before any construction?
If the law passes, all these municipalities will first have to seek the agreement of the State before building social housing for the most modest households, also called PLAI (rental loan assistance for integration) and PLUS (rental loan for social use). Knowing that the rents vary between 7 and 12 euros per m² depending on your geographical area for the PLAIs, and between 5 and 9 euros for the PLUS, according to the National Housing Agency.
“We walk on the head,” is irritated Ian Brossat, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of housing. The elected Communist indeed recalls that there are “700,000 requests” for social housing “in Île-de-France alone”, while the construction of HLM there “has been in free fall since Macron has been president”. “And now they want to attack mayors who … are doing too much!” Meanwhile, the mayors who do not sleep soundly, ”he storms.
Asking for state authorization to possibly be refused the construction of new social housing is a solution that could prove catastrophic for the many Ile-de-France residents still awaiting social housing. At the end of 2020, 743,000 people were applicants in the region, according to the regional housing committee, while 70,000 homes are allocated each year, or even only 60,000 in 2020.
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However, it is precisely in working-class neighborhoods – which already have a certain number of low-rent homes – that demand is greatest. “A mayor can no longer leave the town hall without meeting dozens of people who turn to him” to request an acceleration of their housing application, assures Patrick Jarry, the various left mayor of Nanterre and president of the housing committee of the Metropolis of greater Paris.
A demonstration on November 10
So much so that 95 elected officials from Ile-de-France, including 17 mayors, have decided to mobilize to prevent the crisis from worsening. Together, they call for demonstrations on November 10 at 6 p.m. in front of the Ministry of Housing, so that “the streets of Paris hear the cry of these families who are waiting for social housing or those who want to own property,” said the mayor of Nanterre.
But aware that the solution does not lie in the construction of large building bars either, these elected officials are proposing new solutions such as that of including social housing in private buildings, because “nobody wants us to rebuild large buildings. sets in one corner and more residential neighborhoods in another ”, underlined Patrick Jarry, according to whom“ the future of metropolises is mixing ”.
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