Faced with a housing crisis in "all segments", mayors challenge the minister of the sector at their Congress

Social housing, private housing, first purchase, construction: "the housing crisis affects all segments", warned the mayor of Chambéry Thierry Repentin on Wednesday, November 20 at the Congress of Mayors, asking Minister Valérie Létard for measures to unblock the sector.

"The housing sector is limping along," notes Thierry Repentin, mayor of Chambéry and co-president of the Housing-Habitat-Accommodation working group of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF). This is blocking "residential pathways," the subject of a round table at the Congress of Mayors of France.

"A major issue" for mayors, housing is currently experiencing a serious crisis, both in the stock of social housing, which is undersized to meet the millions of requests for social housing, and in the private rental market or to allow households to access property.

Mayors located in various territories - urban, rural, overseas - have presented their problems to the Minister of Housing and Urban Renewal, Valérie Létard, who is also convinced that "the first issue that explodes in the faces of elected officials is housing".

Among the demands of the elected officials: "tools to organize residential routes" in their territories, "more flexibility and agility", support to create housing, means to "recover vacant housing", less "brake" on construction.

Faced with a housing crisis that she considers "massive", Valérie Létard called on elected officials to work "hand in hand" to "co-construct" solutions with parliamentarians.

She recalled the "concrete measures to unblock" the sector and help create housing, which are currently being discussed with parliamentarians: generalization of zero-rate loans, reduction of a State levy on the income of social landlords and a bill on the transformation of vacant offices into housing, as well as an amendment to encourage family donations with a view to purchasing a main residence.

"Small things that loosen the links, but it will not be enough to reach the ambition of 450.000 new homes per year," estimates Thierry Repentin.

Other longer-term "projects" are on the minister's table: the "status of private lessors", the "simplification of procedures in terms of town planning and housing", support for social landlords, and taking into account ageing.

Regarding private lessors, Valérie Létard is considering measures to "ensure that investment in property is not confiscatory", and on "how to give private investors some breathing space without going overboard".

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.