Like his predecessors since Emmanuel Macron's first five-year term, the current Minister of Housing Patrice Vergriete, former DVG mayor of Dunkirk, is a "delegated" minister, placed under the supervision of the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion Christophe Béchu.
His reappointment was not announced Thursday evening by the secretary general of the presidency, Alexis Kohler.
Questioned by AFP, the Ministry of Housing explained that this was a first wave of ministers "attached to the Prime Minister" and that a second series of delegated ministers would be designated later.
But this absence has not gone unnoticed among housing stakeholders.
“I deplore the absence of a full-time Minister of Housing, equipped with the necessary means to fight the harsh crisis which weighs on our fellow citizens and threatens employment,” tweeted Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the Social Union for housing (USH), which brings together social housing stakeholders.
“This is unacceptable even though the crisis is of unprecedented violence,” she also reacted to AFP.
Same indignant reaction from the Ville & Banlieue association. “That they are not announcing the appointment of the Minister of Housing when there is a housing crisis is beyond comprehension,” declared its president Gilles Leproust (PCF).
Manuel Domergue, director of studies at the Abbé Pierre Foundation, notes for his part that we are “in continuity with what has been happening since 2017”.
“This is what happened in July and also the time before. It confirms that housing is not a big subject for this government, and that it does not deserve a ministry,” he said. -he told AFP.
On the political side, the deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis Stéphane Peu (PCF) tweeted: “Incredible inconsistency!” evoking “a total disconnection with reality”.
“Once again, the Ministry of Housing is falling by the wayside. It should be the priority of priorities, and this reshuffle forgets it,” also tweeted the environmentalist deputy Julien Bayou.
The Government still ignores Housing: The FFC expresses its disappointment and calls for urgent action
The French Federation of Individual Home Builders (FFC) once again expresses its deep disappointment at the absence of a ministry dedicated to housing in the composition of the new government. Housing represents a major issue for the French and a key sector of the national economy, which deserves particular attention and dedicated leadership within the ministerial cabinet!
Once again, the government is showing its contempt for the crisis that this sector is going through, that the French are experiencing.
The complex challenges of housing in France and access to property, particularly in terms of the construction of individual houses, are systematically denied in recent political decisions. The absence of a dedicated ministry is an alarming signal for the sector and for the millions of French people who dream of a home. Without a clear and coherent government strategy, the housing crisis will continue to worsen, pushing people further away from realizing their homeownership aspirations.
For Damien Hereng, President of the FFC: “We are and remain a committed and constructive interlocutor and we will continue to actively promote the vitality of our sector in these unstable economic times. Periods of crisis require bold measures, and we will be present to ensure that the issues of housing and the individual home so dear to the French remain an absolute priority. »