Illustration of a rental housing.

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Florence Durand / SIPA

  • In Lille, for the past year, the rental of housing has been subject to the rent framework under the Elan law.

  • The Fives Urban Planning Workshop denounces non-compliance with this rent framework in half of the cases, according to a study it conducted on 313 advertisements.

  • The association regrets that no coercive measure to enforce the law has been carried out by the prefecture of the North.

Big crack in the rent regulations.

In Lille, for a year now, the rental of housing has been subject to this regulation of the Elan law, the city having applied on an experimental basis until 2023. To rent a property, an owner or a lessor must thus respect a price range based on four criteria: area, type, surface area and year of construction.

However, according to the Lille association, the Popular Urban Planning Workshop (APU) of Fives, this framework is flouted in half of the offers.

"The analysis of 313 announcements, between October and January, shows that the framework is not respected in 48.6% of cases", indicates the APU, in a press release.

Real estate agencies singled out

For the most part, these are direct rentals between individuals found on the Le bon coin site.

“This can be understood because some do not know the existence of this measure.

This explanation, however, seems less credible in the case of real estate agencies since the legal aspects of letting are the very heart of their business, ”said the APU.

The asso has calculated that, in four out of ten cases, these agencies charge rents higher than the maximum authorized.

"In the forefront of the less zealous agencies in the application of the law, Nexity, Lille Immo or Colocatère, a start-up of the colocation of" standing ", practice exorbitant prices", she denounces.

On the side of Lille Immo, the Lille director recognizes that "8% of the ads do not respect the framework", according to an audit carried out by the agency.

But he disputes the APU investigation.

"If we dig into the ads, we realize that, often, it is an exceptional character, authorized by law, which justifies a more expensive rent," he assures

20 Minutes

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In addition, Lille Immo takes refuge behind its simple mission of manager.

"We do not own the property and we encourage them to respect the law, without being able to force them to do so," insists its director.

Contacted, Nexity and Colocatère, for their part, did not follow up.

No review of the device before the fall

But whatever the numbers, behind these practices, it is the tenants who find themselves aggrieved and, until now, left to fend for themselves.

"Without dedicated resources, it is to be feared that the prefecture will not be able to apply any sanction, leaving the tenants to fend for themselves to file a complaint in the event of abuse", regrets the APU.

"However, the spirit of this law is precisely that the tenants do not find themselves alone in front of the owners and that the prefecture can self-enter illegal announcements", indicates Anissa Badira, housing assistant at the city of Lille .

The elected Lille ensures that, "since November, the city of Lille has offered to the prefect of the North to help him enforce the device."

"The State must move up a gear and put the means for this ambition to control rents, especially as other cities such as Bordeaux, Lyon or Grenoble are in turn candidates", adds the deputy.

Contacted on the number of complaints filed for a year, the prefecture did not respond.

The prefect must, however, present an assessment of the implementation of the measure, but not before the fall of 2021. Until then, it is difficult to have official figures on the rate of rent overruns.

Our Lille file

For tenants, there is nevertheless a simulation tool, set up on the site of the Lille town hall.

It allows you to know whether the rent offered in an advertisement exceeds or not the maximum provided for by law.

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20 minutes of context

Two governments have looked in turn at the regulation of rental housing, first with the, then with.

In 2015, the city of Lille, like that of Paris, applied to experiment with a first device, finally.

Five years later, new candidacy from Lille to set up the new system.

Since March 1, 2020, rents have therefore been officially regulated in Lille, Hellemmes and Lomme.

The device has, again, been sued by real estate professionals.

The appeal has not yet been tried.

  • Lille

  • Rental

  • Immovable

  • Rent regulation