Minister for Cities and Housing, Vincent Jeanbrun, wants to end social housing “for life”

“Social housing turnover of less than 8% in 2023 is still too small,” he said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.

“I dream of becoming a French owner.” Municipal and Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun wants to end the allocation principle “lifetime” social housing, he said, Sunday 16 November. “Social housing turnover of less than 8% in 2023 is still too little (…) I would prefer to move to a ‘three-six-nine’ rental system, with regular reassessments by social landlords that would allow for adaptation to household size or professional transfers, and with better mobility from one city to another”he explained in an interview with Sunday Newspaperwhile 2.87 million households are waiting for social housing.

This action, also carried out by former minister Guillaume Kasbarian, appears in his work “suburban plan” presented in June. Vincent Jeanbrun now wants to raise this topic for debate with professionals and elected officials.

Each year, landlords send a “resource survey” to HLM housing tenants. If a tenant’s income increases, they may be forced to pay additional rent. If his income increases very sharply, he may be forced to leave his residence within 18 months after the excess of two years. However, these rules may not apply depending on the location of the accommodation or the person’s personal situation.

Meanwhile, the HLM movement and tenants’ defense associations believe that the problem is not the retention of tenants in social housing, but the absence of an exit solution. “False good ideas that show a lack of understanding of social housing needs”commented in mid-October Inaki Echaniz, PS representative for Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Regarding energy performance diagnosis (DPE), the Minister of Public Housing plans to offer owners the possibility to spread out their renovation work. DPE provides grades from A, for the most efficient housing, to G, for the most energy-intensive housing. Since January 1 2025, housing G can no longer be rented out.

“By committing for a few years, they can continue to rent”underline the minister who he thinks is a “equitable sharing of energy savings between owner and tenant to finance renovations”. DPE reforms should also remove about 700,000 primary residences from the energy filter category by January 1, 2026, according to the government.