Almost 3.8% of HLM shares are occupied by tenants whose incomes exceed the ceilings, according to figures cited by the Minister of Housing.
About 200,000 units of social housing in France are occupied by tenants whose income exceeds the maximum ceiling of resources, the minister delegated to Housing Guillaume Kasbarian declared on Wednesday in the Senate.
“On the income, we have the figures (…) if I look at it in absolute terms, and I exclude the areas in QPV (priority district of the city policy, the editor’s note), this is 200,000 housing units for which we exceed the ceiling.” declared the minister before the Committee of Economic Affairs.
“The number of social housing units that are more than 20% above the roofs is 80,000,” he added. France had 5.3 million HLM housing units at the beginning of 2023, according to the Social Union for Housing, which represents social landlords.
In other words, almost 3.8% of HLM shares are occupied by tenants whose incomes exceed the ceilings, including 1.5% that are at least 20% above these ceilings. These data are in line with an INSEE study published in 2018 based on data from 2016. We learned that 3% of the occupants of social housing were at the time part of the richest 20%, or almost 300,000 people. “Two-thirds of them live in the urban unit of Paris”, also specified the INSEE at the time.
Automatic overpayment and take into account assets
This Wednesday, May 15, the minister presented to the senators the main measures of his bill “regarding the development of the supply of affordable housing”, which will be discussed in June in the Senate.
The text provides that social housing tenants who exceed the maximum resource ceiling authorized to obtain housing will automatically pay an “additional rent”. while now we have to wait for them to exceed the ceiling of 20%..
The level of resources at which a family can, with some exceptions, be evicted from their social housing also changes. Instead of expecting the tenant to be 50% above the highest ceiling, it will be enough for them to exceed it by 20%.
U Tenant assets will also be taken into account, which allow their departure if they have accommodation that would allow them to meet their needs in the private park. Guillaume Kasbarian reiterates the desire to create the conditions for a “supply shock” to better accommodate the French, especially the middle classes.
2.6 million pending claims
But the provisions of the text aimed at social housing tenants have caused an uproar, with the five main HLM tenants’ associations denouncing a “hunt for the poor”.
The scale that establishes these resource ceilings varies depending on whether you go to the Paris region, the provinces or overseas, and the number of people residing in the accommodation. France lacks HLM accommodation with 2.6 million people waiting.