HLM quotas, mayors' "veto"... the main measures of the housing law

In an attempt to unblock the residential path of the French, the government is touching on several social housing rules in its bill presented on Friday May 3, certain measures of which are causing associations to jump.

The Minister Delegate for Housing Guillaume Kasbarian repeats his desire to create the conditions for a “supply shock” to better house the French, particularly the middle classes.

“We need to build all types of housing for all French people: social housing, intermediate housing, free housing,” Mr. Kasbarian clarified during the report of the Council of Ministers.

This bill intends, according to the ministry, to "offer new tools to mayors to build, simplify administrative procedures to build faster, free up investment in affordable housing, facilitate access to housing for the French".

But it mainly targets social housing, which has sparked an outcry.

The five main HLM tenant associations have denounced a “hunt for the poor”. “We are walking on our heads!” exclaimed Cécile Duflot, general director of Oxfam France, in a press release.

Particularly targeted is the announced relaxation of the SRU law, which imposes social housing quotas on cities. The executive hopes that out-of-the-way municipalities will be able, in the future, to integrate intermediate housing, mainly intended for the middle classes, into part of their production serving to catch up - without affecting the final objective of 20 or 25% of HLM.

“Why want to weaken the SRU law, give a bonus to those who have not applied it sufficiently for 20, 25 years, while others have stuck to it?”, wonders to AFP Christophe Robert , general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation.

“The law comes, in a pragmatic way, to propose a solution other than that of repression, with fines which in fact do not work”, retorts the majority deputy Bastien Marchive who defends a “social justice” text.

Housing crisis

The first household budget item, housing is in fact experiencing an unprecedented crisis. The number of building permits granted has not been this low in more than 30 years.

This setback has repercussions on all stages of the residential journey: accession to property is more unaffordable than ever, finding accommodation to rent is an obstacle course... and, further down the social scale, the number of households waiting for HLM has reached a record level of 2,6 million, while 4,2 million people are poorly housed.

This crisis comes partly from the economic situation, with more expensive construction materials or rising interest rates; for another of decisions by the State, which reduced expenditure or strengthened standards which increase construction costs.

If the bill simplifies the rules to facilitate the act of building, there is no financial aid for the production of housing, the time being for budgetary austerity.

Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the Social Union for Housing, a confederation of social landlords, said she was disappointed with "a technical text of law without much vision and without scope, and which moreover only addresses very little housing production and ways to reverse the trend."

“What we need is a relaunch of the construction of social housing. And the provisions made in this text are made within a limited budgetary framework,” also tackled UDI senator Amel Gacquerre.

“Social housing for life does not exist”

The additional latitude given to mayors to allocate new HLMs also made tenants' associations fear "electoral patronage (...) or even (a) national preference".

“There are obviously a certain number of safeguards,” replies an advisor to the minister, even if the prevailing principle is “trust”.

The text allows social landlords to hold more intermediate housing, and to increase the rent of social housing when it changes tenant.

Another controversial provision, it lowers the resource ceilings beyond which tenants will see their rent increase, or even be evicted.

“We want landlords to check that those who are currently in the social housing stock remain legitimate to stay there. Because yes, social housing for life does not exist,” said Guillaume Kasbarian.

"To go where? These are still small resources for a household. And the steps between social housing and private housing, in certain areas, they are very, very high!", pleads to AFP Christophe Robert.

The text will first be examined in the Senate, around mid-June, before going to the Assembly at the start of the next school year.

The main measures of the “bill relating to the development of the supply of affordable housing” presented on Friday May 3 following the Council of Ministers:

HLM quotas, mayors’ “veto”… what the housing law contains

Social housing quotas relaxed

The most scrutinized point of this law is the reform, desired by Gabriel Attal, of the Solidarity and Urban Renewal (SRU) law which imposes social housing quotas on cities.

The text provides that cities below the quota (20 or 25% of social housing depending on the case) will be able to conclude a "social diversity contract" with the State, by integrating, in their production aimed at catching up, a share of intermediate housing, with higher income ceilings and rents than in social housing.

Municipalities too far from the target quota (with less than 10 or 15% of social housing) will not be able to claim it, in order to avoid offering an escape route to the worst performers.

And this relaxation does not call into question the final objective of 20% or 25% of social housing, clarified the minister's advisers.

HLM allocations reviewed

Demand of many elected officials, in particular on the right, mayors will, provided they respect the SRU law, obtain more latitude in the allocation of social housing.

They will chair the allocation committees and will be able, for new social housing under their jurisdiction, to rank the candidates in order of preference and to veto an application.

Mayors will be able to more easily authorize the sale of social housing to their occupants, provided they have already reached their mandatory quota.

The “prefectural contingent”, which gives hand to the prefects for 30% of the housing to be allocated and makes it possible in particular to house the most precarious groups, including beneficiaries of the enforceable right to housing (Dalo), could be delegated to the Action organization Housing, specialist in the employment-housing link. The government thus wants to promote employment in the most tense areas.

The bill also provides for opening mobility leases, allowing people in professional training, internships or apprenticeships to be temporarily accommodated in HLM.

Donor resources

Social landlords will have more flexibility on rents. They will be able to increase the rent of a property when the tenant changes, a measure aimed at increasing their means and encouraging turnover in the stock.

They will also be able to hold more intermediate housing than currently, a maximum of 20% of their stock compared to 10% today.

Against “too rich” tenants

Tenants of social housing who exceed their resource ceiling will automatically be subject to an "excess rent", whereas until now they had to exceed their corresponding ceiling by 20%.

The level of resources from which a household can be (with exceptions) evicted from their social housing will also be lowered, going from 50% above the highest ceiling to 20% above.

For a couple without children outside the Paris region, this would go from 58.964 euros annually to 47.170 euros.

The tenants' assets will also be taken into account, allowing their departure if they own housing that would allow them to meet their needs in the private sector. The amount at which the expulsion could take place has not been set at this stage.