Put an end to “lifetime” social housing. The expression, deliberately shocking, is by Guillaume Kasbarian. In an interview with Echoes On April 11, the Minister for Housing recalled the terms of the equation: 5.2 million social housing units in France, 1.8 million households applying but not served due to lack of space. His proposal? Bring out “those who have largely exceeded the income ceilings, have been able to inherit, sometimes have a second home in their possession, and whose assets – and this is the meaning of life – have evolved”.
This formula has raised the hackles of the left and associations, who point out that the Construction and Housing Code already sets limits. Social landlords can claim an additional rent from the tenant as long as their reference tax income exceeds by at least 20% the maximum resources to be respected for the allocation of housing. And if his income exceeds, two years in a row, by more than 150% the ceiling in question, the tenant can be evicted within eighteen months.
In the bill that he plans to present in May, Guillaume Kasbarian therefore intends to lower this famous 150% threshold, synonymous with forced relocation. For a single person, for example, it is currently around 50,000 euros per year. By reducing it to 40,000 euros, as the ministry envisages, the turnover, low today – only 7% of households leave the park each year – could accelerate to the benefit of these “middle classes” including the government makes a big deal.
The intention is laudable, and the idea is not without interest. But it comes at the wrong time. It risks driving out the most solvent tenants, while payment delays in public housing have increased significantly, due to inflation and energy bills. Above all, where will these “too rich” tenants find refuge? The construction of new housing, whether social or not, is at its lowest. The prices of the rare properties put on the private rental market are reaching new heights. As for the current occupants, they are no longer moving, blocked in their desire to access property by soaring interest rates and the cost of credit. The housing crisis, which the executive did not take stock of in time, has taken a lasting hold in the country. We should build. We’re plastering.