More than 8% of HLM tenants would no longer be eligible for social housing if they applied for one today. This is what indicates the newspaper The echoes William Kasbarian. The Minister for Housing announces to the economic daily that the government intends to encourage the exit from social housing of tenants who have “well exceeded the income ceilings”.
“When we have 5.2 million social housing units in France and 1.8 million households legitimately applying to enter it, is it normal that they are prevented from doing so when there are people within the social housing whose situation has changed significantly since they were allocated their housing?”, asks the minister. “We must re-examine the relevance of continuing to occupy social housing for 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 the life – has evolved”, continues the minister.
Guillaume Kasbarian intends to require social landlords to carry out a regular and obligatory assessment of “the personal, financial and property situation” of social housing tenants. “This will first make it possible to question the renewal of the lease. And then to question the level of rents,” adds the Minister for Housing, without giving further details.
A broader bill
Currently, HLM tenants must respond annually to a “resources survey” to attest to their economic situation. If they exceed a certain income ceiling, their landlord can increase their rent, and if they report even higher income, their landlord can in certain cases refuse to renew their lease.
These provisions should be integrated into a bill intended as a broader text to promote housing for the middle classes and presented to the Council of Ministers at the beginning of May, for examination in the Senate in June. The text must also give more power to mayors in the allocation of social housing or in the decision to sell it, indicates Guillaume Kasbarian. “Mayors will now systematically chair the allocation commission for new housing. This will put them in a position of control and allow them to make a link between the act of building and the allocation of social housing,” he adds. at Les Echos.
The minister also committed to maintaining “the target objectives of 20 to 25% of social housing” in the municipalities concerned by the SRU law (Solidarity and urban renewal), the upcoming reform of which has given rise to many concerns.
This text will also allow municipalities lagging behind in their production of HLM to integrate intermediate housing – intended for the middle classes – into “their construction flows of the SRU law”. Access to property will also be made easier: tenants of intermediate housing will be able to purchase it after 5 years, instead of the current 18 years.