Caretaker of social housing buildings, an essential local job in a working-class neighborhood

The eight-building social housing complex he is guarding is located in a priority urban policy neighborhood (QPV), an urban area where the population lives on lower incomes than in the national territory and the metropolitan area. These neighborhoods are often singled out for antisocial behavior, insecurity, and drug trafficking.

In February, the resigning Minister for Urban Affairs, Juliette Méadel, threatened social landlords with depriving them of their property tax reduction in the event of failure to maintain the common areas of social housing buildings located in QPV, suspecting them of not investing enough in the living environment of their tenants.

A "gratuitous and generalized accusation," according to Stéphane Ledoux, sector manager at the Ile-de-France social housing provider Elogie-Siemp. "The problems vary from one landlord to another, and from one site to another as well," he explained to AFP.

QPVs "require more human resources and closer contact with tenants," according to Ammar Hammouche, agency manager in the 18th arrondissement for Elogie-Siemp.

At Goutte d'Or, the landlord has chosen to assign two caretakers to the 120 apartments spread across eight gray buildings with balconies, no higher than six stories and organized around a central asphalt courtyard.

Before, there was only one guard, "he couldn't be everywhere," Nizar Khalfallah, 51, who has been working for three years in this mixed neighborhood, which has become gentrified in recent years, told AFP.

In his low- and mid-rent apartment building, there is little damage in the halls, clean common areas, working elevators, and no visible drug trafficking.

Nizar Khalflah probably has something to do with it. "My role is to ensure the peace of mind of the tenants, to listen to them, to be available, to be present, to bring order to the residence I manage, and to create a good atmosphere among the tenants," he explains.

"The role of the caretaker is frankly very important," assures Julien Espanol, 45, a tenant for 10 years, for whom "having people on site makes a huge difference," both for the peace of mind of residents and for managing hazards.

"Square and true"

The difference is observed "particularly in the underground parking lot," according to Ammar Hammouche, "where there were regular gatherings of people from outside the residence who used to settle there."

Nizar Khalfallah now makes daily rounds, contacts the Paris Inter-Landlord Surveillance Group (GPIS) if necessary, and removes any mattresses or cardboard boxes lying around among tenants' cars.

There are still some incivilities, such as the four fire extinguishers recently emptied in the middle of the parking lot, but less frequent according to the sector manager.

As for the halls, stairwells, and other common areas in the buildings, the caretaker is firm: any trash left outside the garbage room results in messages in the mailboxes reminding people of the rules of living together. "This way, we can minimize incivility," assures the caretaker, proud of the respect he has earned.

With him, "if there's a problem, it's action, reaction. He's straightforward and fair," describes a resident of the residence for over 30 years.

Stéphane Ledoux most often handles "minor issues" among the daily complaints at this residence.

If the repair involves minor maintenance work, "it's quick, 48 hours maximum," he assures, with the example of "a broken door, hit or blocked by someone without a badge" in the parking lot, which was put back into service in "less than 24 hours."