Here, 69 low-cost housing units built in 2016 rue Pierre-Dupont, in Paris.

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F. POULIQUEN / 20 minutes

The HLM world does not create enough housing and the year 2020 will not be "good", according to the new head of the sector, Emmanuelle Cosse.

"We are very late," warns the one who has just been elected president of the Social Union for Housing (USH), the organization which brings together all French social housing.

"We are not sure of making 100,000 homes," she warns.

This is little.

The sector is committed to the government to build 110,000 per year and Emmanuelle Cosse, who was Minister of Housing during the five-year term of François Hollande, believes that even this objective may be insufficient.

"I defended, when I was minister, that it was necessary to make 150,000 social housing units per year," she recalls.

Housing, a stake in the economic recovery

The issue of housing is crucial, in the midst of the economic crisis linked to the coronavirus, while many French people see their incomes drop, sometimes drastically.

However, ease of housing is an essential factor for the recovery of the economy.

"There are jobs which are not filled because of the difficulty of access to housing", in particular around Paris, recalls Emmanuelle Cosse.

Why, then, is the HLM world struggling to create enough housing?

First, there are financial reasons because, since the start of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term, the government has asked the sector to make significant savings.

But, for Emmanuelle Cosse, there is also a political problem.

According to her, the government does not give enough impression that housing is an important subject.

Political will is essential when it comes to social housing

Very tense at the start of Emmanuel Macron's term of office, relations with the State have nevertheless calmed down, and Emmanuelle Cosse considers that the current Minister of Housing, Emmanuelle Wargon, shows excellent will towards social landlords.

However, "if it does not speak strongly about the production of housing and affordable housing, we will not succeed," warns Emmanuelle Cosse.

The head of HLM considers such a position essential to convince local elected officials, first and foremost the mayors, who are in fact the main people responsible for housing policy in France.

However, beyond just HLMs, many housing professionals also report such local blockages.

Some also evoke the coming to power of elected ecologists, reluctant to the construction of new buildings in the name of the fight against the artificialization of soils and concreteization.

Economy

Social housing: Who can claim it and how to do it?

  • Emmanuelle Cosse

  • HLM

  • Housing

  • Society