The Senate votes on its housing stimulus plan

Social housing, private housing stock, building renovation, land acquisition and revival of new construction... The LR group in the Senate, the largest force in the chamber, has submitted to the upper house a broad "recovery plan" to combat the housing crisis.

Adopted by 230 votes to 102, this very comprehensive text almost resembles a program for the future presidential election on this thorny housing issue.

It seems unlikely that this bill will succeed in the National Assembly in the coming months due to its length, unless the government takes it up.

Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun, for his part, intends to develop his own "major housing plan" in the coming weeks and the Senate text could "feed into it," he explained.

Examined last week, the bill proposed by LR senator Dominique Estrosi-Sassone aims to set "a new course" for construction, after "almost a lost decade", according to its author.

It sets a target of building 400.000 new homes per year by 2030, compared to 280.000 in 2024, and intends to "offer new tools to mayors" in their housing policy.

Several articles in particular generated considerable discussion in the upper house, such as the relaxation of the SRU law (Solidarity and Urban Renewal), which has required urban municipalities to provide a minimum percentage of social housing for the past 25 years. Municipalities lagging behind this target could catch up by including intermediate housing, with higher rents.

Among other points of contention, senators voted to strengthen mayors' power in allocating social housing, granting them a "reasoned veto right" over applications. The left and the Right to Housing association warned of a risk of "clientelism" and "national preference."

One measure aims to "complement" the measures of the 2023 anti-squat law by penalizing "remaining in someone else's home" after legal entry, such as tourist rental.

"This text will only accentuate territorial inequalities, weaken tenants' rights, and weaken the social housing stock," lamented the ecologist Yannick Jadot.