Social housing: the Rhône prefecture gives control back to six municipalities

This "strong" and "unprecedented" measure has made it possible to produce 931 approved housing units in 2024 and 2025 in the seven municipalities concerned, which is 6,7 times more than in 2023, the prefecture emphasizes in a press release.

"In view of the good results", Prefect Fabienne Buccio "has made the decision to return the authority to issue planning permissions" to six of them, her services added.

Due to a "negative dynamic", the prefect only retains control in Chaponnay to finalize operations under consideration concerning several dozen social housing units, they specify.

The prefecture emphasizes that there is significant pressure on social housing in the Rhône region, where only one in ten applications is successful.

The Solidarity and Urban Renewal Law (SRU) mandates that 20% to 25% of housing must be social housing, depending on the size of the municipality. Municipalities that do not meet this quota must achieve a three-year target for the construction of social housing.

Prefects usually impose fines on municipalities that refuse to comply.

But on January 1, 2024, the State representative in the Rhône had taken back their authority from the mayors of seven rather upscale municipalities in western Lyon, which had reached less than a third of their objectives.

This led to him being attacked on X by a far-right activist who, in January 2026, accused him of "forcing" "municipalities protected" from immigration to "build social housing" and thus "plunging them into insecurity." This post, signed Damien Rieu, was followed by hateful comments.

The prefect had filed a complaint for death threats and racist insults.