The deputies offer communities the power of sanction to enforce the regulation of rents

As part of the examination of the so-called "3DS" bill relating to decentralization and differentiation, the Assembly voted on Tuesday evening amendments by the majority to delegate this power of sanction currently in the hands of the State via the prefects.

It is "coherent" that the communities which have taken up this new tool are "capable of enforcing the rules themselves", supported the Minister of Housing, Emmanuelle Wargon.

"For it to work, there must be sanctions" and that this be decided "as close as possible to the ground", echoed the communist Stéphane Peu, who had defended an almost similar amendment.

"For us, it is a capital emergency", underlined the socialist deputy Lamia El Aaraje recalling the figures of the Observatory of the framing of the rents in Paris, evaluated by the Abbé Pierre Foundation with the support of the City.

They revealed in November that between 2020 and 2021, 35% of Parisian accommodation offered for rent exceeded the ceilings provided for by law.

The competence of sanction is "not sufficiently applied", continued the Parisian deputy.

The co-rapporteur of the 3DS bill Mickaël Nogal specified that 10 administrative fines had been drawn up since 2019 by the prefecture of Ile-de-France, seized of 98 cases.

"The vast majority has been classified because of the reconciliation" between owners and tenants via the departmental commission, he said.

MEPs underlined the importance of better support for citizens "to help promote this access to law".

Welcoming this new delegation of powers, Ms. El Aaraje regretted that it was not accompanied by "financial compensation" since if the community will pay the fine and the related means, it is the State which will recover the amount.

The amendment voted will allow "to get out of this situation of impunity in which a good third of the owners allows themselves to exceed the framework of the rents without anything happening to them", reacted to AFP Ian Brossat, deputy to the housing of the PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo. For the elected Communist, the overruns represent on average "about 200 euros per month, it is considerable".

Welcoming a "very good progress", Mr. Brossat underlines the few fines set. According to him "for the fear of the gendarme to work, you still need a few fines".

Once the legislative procedure is completed, the deputy mayor intends to vote "in 2022 a deliberation which will make it possible to recover this competence and in the wake of setting up teams responsible for carrying out these checks".