in Marseille, the housing bill worries current HLM tenants

Among the main measures of the government’s bill, there are in particular the rules for tenants of social housing whose income exceeds the ceilings authorized in HLM.

There are no bars or towers in the Jardins-La Blancarde city of the 12th district of Marseille, but buildings with low rent (500 to 600 euros) and concerned residents. In the bill presented Friday 3 May in the Council of Ministers, the government plans to ask tenants of social housing to pay an additional rent from one euro above the income ceiling, or even to leave their accommodation if their income exceeds the ceiling by 30% .

“It worries meconfides a resident of this Marseille district. I’m working overtime to try to make ends meet so I’m going to stop working them and I’m going to be overdrawn. And then when I can’t pay, I won’t pay my rent anymore.” “It’s always the samegets angry another Marseille resident, we work, we pay our rent and if unfortunately in a couple, there is a euro that goes over, we will be told to pay an extra rent or else we will be evicted.” For a resident, “HLMs are for people who don’t have a good salary. The person who earns more, automatically won’t stay in a HLM, they will buy.” “I know that with what I have, I’m not taken into the private sector. So how do we do it? ?”another resident is alarmed.

A law that is too “severe” ?

A question that the Habitat Marseille Provence lessor of the residence also asks: this bill would signify the end of diversity in HLM. “We can only build, maintain and rehabilitate through rental income. If we have a population at risk, we risk having major disputes and that can create an economic problem”explains Patrick Pappalardo, president of Habitat Marseille-Provence.

Currently, when a tenant’s income exceeds the ceilings by more than 20%. He pays a solidarity rent supplement. In the bill, this additional rent would apply from the first euro exceeded and that changes a lot of things. “It seems relatively severe to usexplains Robin Hamadi, director of the regional HLM Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur association. A single person who would occupy accommodation of 40 m² of living space if he exceeds the resource ceiling by 30%, not only could he be notified of leave from his social landlord and the solidarity rent supplement would be around 94 euros monthly.”

Social landlords are instead asking for the construction of new HLMs. Today, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, there are 15 000 more applicants each year for only 6 500 new housing units built.