Better to be patient. The Strasbourg Eurometropolis does not have not enough social housing to meet demand more and more numerous. Some plaintiffs, in very precarious situations, wait years before winning their case.
For a year and a half, Cumba* has been living in an aparthotel in the north of Strasbourg, on the edge of the railway tracks, with her two children, including a little girl with a disability. Since then, this Guinean refugee, part-time facilitator in schools and beneficiary of the RSA has been waiting for the holy grail. “I’m looking for a T4. I’m on the waiting list. It’s complicated to live in a hotel, you’re safe, but you don’t have your freedom”. The association Consumption housing and living environment (CVCL) helps Cumba in his efforts, by signaling to social landlords the urgency of his situation.
Its president Daniel Bonnot is confronted daily with these very precarious scenarios. “There are more than 23,000 housing requests in the Eurometropolis. We see an average of two or three people a day. Often we are a little helpless because there simply isn’t enough housing”, he laments.
Unequal distribution
The Eurometropolis has 52,000 social housing units, unevenly distributed across its territory. The EMS as a whole accounts for 16% of social housing. Some municipalities, such as La Wantzenau (less than 4%) lead to a drop in this average.
Even among “good students”, such as Strasbourg (30%), it would take a lot more to meet demand, says Suzanne Brolly, vice-president in charge of housing policy. “In 2019, we still had a shortage of 5,327 homes”.
Faced with this shared observation, the Eurometropolis, delegate since 2006 of state aid for stone, is deploying a whole series of measures, in particular through the diversification of the housing offer : very social, social, social accession, intermediate housing or housing intended for more well-to-do applicants. “We are also making sure to mobilize the private fleet to come and reinforce this offer”, continues the elected. The EMS thus intends to encourage owners to convert all or part of their properties into social housing.
Essential state aid
To implement these measures, the Eurometropolis requires support from the State. Suzanne Brolly intends to remind Paris of its responsibilities. “Until now we have always had a production of social housing in line with the objectives. But this production has been falling since 2019 with in particular a 50% drop in 2021. But when we look more closely at the figures, it is it turns out that we have 266 housing units which have been postponed to 2022 for lack of a clear position from the State on the funding that can be mobilized. If we do not recognize these housing units, we could have achieved our objectives. have the aid provided by the State to respond to it”.