Social housing: the Rhône prefecture takes back control in seven municipalities

The prefect of Rhône announced in October that sanctions would be increased for municipalities in the department which do not respect the Urban Solidarity and Renewal (SRU) law requiring 25% social housing by 2025.

Several decrees to this effect, which increase fines or take back from mayors certain powers of the town planning code, have just been published, the prefecture announced on Tuesday.

“I am thinking of single-parent families, low-income earners, often under 40 years old, looking for T1/T2 type accommodation, I enforce the law,” declared prefect Fabienne Buccio, referring in a communicated a decision “unprecedented in its magnitude”.

In total, a deficiency was noted for 21 municipalities with a deficit in social housing, which achieved at best 64% of their three-year objective (2020-2022), at least 14,5%. Twelve are located in the territory of the metropolis of Lyon, 9 in that of Nouveau Rhône (in the rest of the department).

For these 21 municipalities, this means that for a maximum of three years, the urban pre-emption right is transferred to the State, and an increase is applied to the annual financial levy to which any deficit municipality is subject.

The increase in this fine, which feeds local and national funds dedicated to supporting the production of social housing, amounts to between 59% and 312%.

And for the 7 municipalities which recorded an achievement rate of their 2020-2022 objectives lower than 33%, the State is taking over the authority to examine building permits for collective housing.

The targeted municipalities are Caluire-et-Cuire, Chaponnay, Chazay-d'Azergues, Mions, Saint-Genis-Laval, Saint-Symphorien d'Ozon and Tassin-la-Demi-Lune.

Authorization requests must therefore be sent by the municipality to the Departmental Directorate of Rhône Territories.

The prefecture recalls that 100.000 requests for social housing were submitted last year in the department and that "less than one request in ten ends up in the territory of the metropolis of Lyon, where tension is even greater from year to year. year".

The SRU law and the construction and housing code “require municipalities with more than 3.500 inhabitants located in urban areas of more than 50.000 inhabitants to have at least 25% social rental housing”. Municipalities that do not respect this rate must achieve a three-year objective of creating social rental housing.