In Marseille, the redevelopment of four severely deteriorated condominiums has begun.

"The level of deterioration of these co-owned properties requires action from public services" and "the State wants to put in the resources and move as quickly as possible," explained Vincent Jeanbrun, during a visit to the Maurelette site, a co-owned property in the northern districts (15th arrondissement) with 2.500 inhabitants.

He came to announce to the residents of four private condominiums, La Maurelette, Les Rosiers, Consolat and Le Mail, that these complexes would benefit from a National Interest Degraded Condominium Requalification Operation (Orcod-IN), a mechanism which allows public authorities to expropriate or buy back more easily in order to destroy or renovate, to finance work in the common areas and to better take charge of security issues.

The redevelopment operations, for which the Council of State gave its approval in December, will cost approximately 600 million euros, shared between the State, the metropolis, the Region and the City.

In La Maurelette, which was subject to a demolition order, the minister was able to see the waste piled up in the stairwells, the elevators that had been out of order for years in some cases, and the traces of drug dealing points clearly present with drug "menus" tagged everywhere with prices.

"We will be able to start the renovation, start the security, start the rehabilitation and ensure that people's daily lives are transformed, and quickly," the minister assured journalists.

"We were expecting the facade renovation in January, now they're telling us April," lamented Aline Rey, a 78-year-old resident.

Having lived here since the 70s, she told AFP that she had seen this condominium, originally "a paradise" "where everyone wanted to live", with its gardens, its various shops at the foot of the buildings: jewelry store, hairdresser, supermarket... Of this golden period, only the medical center remains.

In Marseille, where the issue of substandard housing emerged in the public sphere with the tragedy of the collapse of rue d'Aubagne, which killed eight people in 2018, "28 real estate complexes comprising nearly 10.000 housing units" are "the subject of special attention from the State, the metropolis and the city".