HLM quotas: the reform of the law will affect municipalities that are lagging behind

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal promised to reform the politically very sensitive SRU (Solidarity and Urban Renewal) law to include intermediate housing, with rents regulated but higher than in HLM.

The approximately 2.100 municipalities subject to this law must have a rate of 20 or 25% social housing. Those falling short of this obligation are assigned, every three years, a production objective to catch up. If they do not respect it, they may be declared “deficient” and have to pay a fine.

“For deficit municipalities, which therefore have objectives for the construction of social housing, we would like to open up the possibility for them to use LLI (intermediate rental housing, Editor’s note) to achieve their objectives,” declared Guillaume Kasbarian during a briefing. press in Bussy-Saint-Georges (Seine-et-Marne).

"There will probably be (...) conditions that will be set," he said, adding that the government's objective was to "encourage builder mayors", "not to give a blank check to those who do not want to build.

The bill containing this provision, intended as a broader text to promote housing for the middle classes, will be presented to the Council of Ministers in May, said Guillaume Kasbarian, who is aiming for an examination in the Senate in June.

Over the period 2020-2022, 711 municipalities, out of 1.022 out of the box, or more than two thirds (70%), have not achieved their catch-up objectives, revealed the ministry.

Among them, 341, or a small half (48%) of the deficit municipalities, were declared deficient by the prefects, detailed the ministry.

The vast majority of municipalities declared deficient are very far from the mark, more than half of them having achieved less than a quarter of their production objectives.

The prefects were able to choose to spare the municipalities which, although having missed their objectives, showed themselves to be making efforts, underlines the ministry. On the contrary, they sanctioned the most refractory municipalities, where the share of social housing in the building permits granted remained low.

For 69 municipalities, the prefecture has taken over, at least in part, the processing of building permits at the town hall.

The fines brought the State some 250 million euros, which are reallocated to the production of social housing.

The Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region was particularly poor performer, with 95% of its municipalities affected by the SRU law falling short of their objectives, and 58% sanctioned by a deficiency order.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is also far from the mark, with 44% of municipalities sanctioned, followed by Occitanie (36%).

In Île-de-France, the region with the most municipalities affected by the SRU law, 29% of them were hit with a deficiency order.