A cocktail, but not really the glass of friendship. At 82e HLM congress, the major annual meeting of social housing, organized in Lyon from September 27 to 29, Olivier Klein, the Minister Delegate for Cities and Housing, quickly left the room where the first French social landlord, Action Logement, received around a buffet.
A few days earlier, the government unveiled its finance bill for 2023 with, on the revenue side, a contribution of 300 million euros imposed on Action Logement (formerly 1% housing), in order to supplement the National Fund for Aid to Pierre. The social landlord, jointly managed by employers and trade unions, and which demands ” develop “ today, one in three social housing units has chosen to raise their voices.
Evoking before the minister a “contempt of the tenants of the HLM park”Bruno Arcadipane, the president of Action Logement, estimated that subtracting these 300 million from his group amounted to “capturing almost a quarter of our resource, the PEEC [participation des employeurs à l’effort de construction]paid by companies that expect results from us to house employees. (…) In other words, you force us to make detestable choices”. Invited to speak, the minister declined and, after a few boos, did not linger.
2.3 million people are waiting for social housing
Action Logement has had, in recent years, the feeling that the government is using its reserves a little too easily. The organization “has experienced several exceptional levies since 2020, for a cumulative amount of 2.1 billion euros”, he indicates.
The other members of the social housing family have carefully kept their distance from the controversy. Some judging ” normal “ that Action Logement, at the head of a considerable financial windfall, thanks to the payment of employers, contributes to the collective effort. In addition, everyone wants to believe that Olivier Klein, mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) and former president of the National Agency for Urban Renewal, will act as an ally within the government.
The episode, however, reflects the tensions and concerns that have crossed the world of social housing since the first five-year term of Emmanuel Macron. The HLM movement has very badly accepted the reduction of 5 euros in personal housing aid (APL), decided in 2017, then compensated by an obligation for social landlords to lower their rents. This represents, according to the federations of HLM organizations, a shortfall of 1.3 billion euros per year, which has eaten into their cash flow and reduced their capacity to produce new housing – while 2.3 million people are still waiting for social housing.
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