In Ile-de-France, against Valérie Pécresse's "anti-ghetto" measure, the communist opposition demands state intervention

The communist opposition in the Île-de-France regional council called on Tuesday September 12 for "a firm reaction from the State" against the "anti-ghetto" measure wanted by the president of the region Valérie Pécresse, adopted in mid-July in the regional development plan and due to come into force in 2024.

Sixty elected officials from Île-de-France signed two letters with the president of the Communist Left group, environmentalist and citizen Céline Malisé, addressed to the Minister of Housing Patrice Vergriete and to the regional prefect Marc Guillaume "to have this villainous measure canceled", said Ms. Malisé in a press release.

This anti-ghetto ceiling aims to slow down the production of social housing in municipalities which already have at least 30% with the stated aim of "recreating diversity in our neighborhoods", in the words of Valérie Pécresse.

The measure is part of the Île-de-France development plan, the master plan for the Île-de-France region (Sdrif), which must govern its development until 2040 and is binding on local elected officials in their urban plans.

Its application would constitute "a serious attack on the right to housing and the free administration of communities", denounce in the two letters the signatories, including the communist senators Pierre Laurent and Eliane Assassi, the deputy mayor of Paris Ian Brossat or the mayors of Grigny, Montreuil, Malakoff, Ivry-sur-Seine or Villejuif.

The targeted municipalities (with more than 30% social housing) contain more than 20% of social production in the Ile-de-France region," the letters underlined, recalling that the "anti-ghetto" measure is, in its version voted in mid-July, " identical to the preparatory document" which had previously been submitted to the State services.

At the end of June, the preliminary draft of the Sdrif was rejected by the State because it did not guarantee that it would be able to carry out its housing policy in particular.

The application of the so-called "anti-ghetto" clause, which "slows down the production of social housing" in areas already well endowed, "would lead to a 21% reduction in average social production" compared to recent years, deplored Prefecture.

According to the signatories, the implementation of this regional policy would have "disastrous consequences for the 750.000 applicants for social housing" and ultimately "would aggravate the already unprecedented and dramatic housing crisis".