A bar of HLM.

(illustration) -

ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

For the government, the law relating to solidarity and urban renewal, known as SRU, is made to last over time.

The text, which imposes on municipalities a rate of 20% or 25% of social housing, will be perpetuated beyond 2025, its deadline, announced the Minister of Housing Emmanuelle Wargon in an interview with the

Journal du Dimanche

.

This obligation “will not stop in 2025, it will become permanent.

Some municipalities said to themselves that it would be enough to wait a few years to reduce the ambition… From now on, they will no longer be able to play for time, they will have to continue their efforts until reaching the objective, ”declared Emmanuelle Wargon.

The minister added that this measure would be "included in the 4D bill [on decentralization] which will be presented in May to the Council of Ministers".

“More automatic” sanctions

Since 2000, the SRU law requires municipalities with more than 3,500 inhabitants (1,500 in Ile-de-France) to have 20% social housing by 2025, a rate raised to 25% in 2014, except for municipalities which justify a particular local situation.

According to Emmanuelle Wargon, in the future, "it will be possible to modulate slightly, upwards or downwards, the pace of construction", but in the event of non-compliance with the commitments "the sanctions will be more automatic and more dissuasive" with “floor penalties” which will be “increased in the event of a repeat offense”.

As for the lack of social mix, denounced recently in a report from the Court of Auditors, the Minister insisted that “tomorrow […] the prefects will be able to take back control of the attributions if the quotas are not respected”.

Projects affected by the health crisis

Regarding the construction of social housing, the minister indicated that an agreement would be signed next week to build 250,000 housing units in two years, after a year 2020 with a number of social housing projects "much lower than the needs, with less of 90,000 approved housing units ”, due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Finally, regarding the decline in personal housing assistance (APL), Emmanuelle Wargon recognizes that "the reform may have led to a decline for the 130,000 young people on professionalization contracts".

This situation will, according to her, be corrected with "a reduction on their income, equivalent to the minimum wage" which "will allow them to be treated like apprentices".

Planet

"We are disappointed to see so many of our proposals reduced", regrets Mélanie Cosnier, citizen of the Climate Convention

Society

Has France hosted a record number of homeless people in 2020, as the Housing Minister says?

  • HLM

  • Habitat

  • Social housing

  • Society