Paris (AFP)

This is not yet a breach in the HLM quotas imposed on cities, but a crack and a bad "signal" according to the sector: justice has admitted this summer that a municipality, the emblematic Neuilly-sur-Seine, could not do what the state asked him.

"It is a very symbolic decision, which exposes all the dysfunctions and the errors of appreciation - it is the word that uses the judge, besides - of the State", judged near the Jean AFP -Christophe Fromantin, mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the western suburbs of Paris.

Made at the beginning of the summer by the administrative justice, this decision sets a precedent since the adoption in 2000 of the law solidarity and urban renewal (SRU), insisted the mayor.

This law imposes on the main French municipalities a minimum of HLM.

Its supporters see it as a cornerstone of social diversity. Among them, the HLM world, gathered this week in Congress in Paris, and Housing Minister Julien Denormandie, who reaffirmed in a speech on Tuesday his "commitment" to this law.

His opponents denounce them a text that sets unrealistic goals without taking into account local specificities.

As such, the case of Neuilly is emblematic: the city, bordering Paris, has a little more than 6% of HLM while the law, which provides for financial penalties for municipalities deficit, requires a quarter of here in 2025.

For the past ten years, the city has tried to prove that it is not realistic to achieve this goal: it was first approved by a national commission to reduce its obligations, but the state has refused to follow the opinion of the latter, leading Neuilly to bring the case to justice.

It was first pronounced in favor of the state a few years ago, but, on appeal, it has given reason to Neuilly: it is the decision of June, which marks an unprecedented legal evolution on the subject even if it is not closed, the government having gone to cassation.

"This is the first time that a decision of this scope points to the obligation of the State to prove that the objective to be achieved is achievable," said Fromantin, optimistic about the outcome of the procedure.

- How many similar cases? -

What can be the consequences of this decision for the HLM world, while the proportion of municipalities in arrears continues to increase? According to the latest official report, dating back two years ago, more than half had not achieved their goal.

"It's not a very positive signal, it's clear", judge with AFP Laurent Goyard, director general of the federation of the public offices of the habitat (FOPH), big component of the HLM world, same s he says he is wait-and-see before the outcome of the cassation appeal.

In case of confirmation, "there are common bad times that could rush into the gap: it will attack too, that's the risk," he warns.

But, beyond the simple effect of imitation and in view of municipal March 2020, the stake is mainly the degree to which this decision can make jurisprudence outside the specific case of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

"Neuilly has argued a series of objective arguments: there is no land available, there is nothing to preempt in the absence of real estate sales and a significant portion of its budget was already devoted to the achievement of social housing, "says AFP jurist Rozen Noguellou, specialist in urban planning law and professor at the University of Paris.

"The question is what we can find with identical situations?" A municipality where we are in a situation as complicated as Neuilly, it should not be so common, but I think it there are some, "she says.

"This type of problem concerns mainly Ile-de-France, but not only," concluded Ms. Noguellou. "For example, municipalities in littoral zone, where there is land but which is not constructible because of the law".

© 2019 AFP