A collapsed building rue de Tivoli in Marseilles at the beginning of April, another in Lille, rue Pierre Mauroy, in November, or even more recently, a balcony which fell off a building in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, on Friday, causing two serious injuries. In recent months, events of this type have followed one another, echoing the collapse of buildings in the rue d’Aubagne in Marseille in 2018, which had caused the death of eight people and aroused the anger of the Marseillais.
These tragic incidents are often the result of extremely unsanitary buildings and the housing they house. The gradual tightening of the law on the decency of these habitats has, it seems, not been enough to stem this scourge.
The deputy Renaissance Guillaume Vuilletet precisely wishes to reinforce the controls of these accommodations, in order to prevent new tragedies and, more broadly, to ensure everyone to live in a decent habitat. All this thanks to new devices, such as the establishment of a “technical control of housing”even coercive.
Up to 600,000 unfit housing
France today has between 400,000 and 600,000 unfit housing, according to estimates by the Dihal (Interministerial Delegation for Accommodation and Access to Housing) on ​​the one hand, and the Abbé Pierre Foundation on the other. go.
A high figure, but one that needs to be put into perspective. Out of 37.2 million dwellings in France according to INSEE, unsanitary ones thus represent between 1 and 1.6% of the housing stock. This does not mean that the living conditions in these accommodations are often very harsh.
“Half of these habitats are occupied by their owners, notes Guillaume Vuilletet. They are people who are often old, fragile, helpless in the face of challenges, used to living in such conditions. The other half concerns landlords. For many, as soon as they are told what to do to make their property decent, they do it. And there are the rest, the sleep dealers who are real bastards, having a more or less clear awareness of what they are doing. »
A technical control valid for ten years
It is the illegal but lucrative business of the latter that the parliamentarian wishes to tackle with his bill which aims to strengthen control of the decency of housing. Its first step is to establish a “technical control of housing”modeled on that of vehicles.
When an owner wishes to rent out his property, he will have to provide a single document issued less than ten years ago, which attests to the healthiness of the accommodation, as well as its energy performance. “A sort of detailed inventory of the apartment, but on the owner’s side and not on the tenant’s side”, summarizes Guillaume Vuilletet.
I seek to make owners aware of what a minimum of decency housing is
Guillaume Vuilletet, Renaissance MP
To the reluctant, the parliamentarian cites the example of the technical control of vehicles precisely, “decried at the time, but which made it possible to eradicate rolling coffins from French roads. »
Also, the elected representative of Val-d’Oise ensures that this certificate will serve both the tenant and the owner of the property. “I try to make owners aware of what a minimum of decency housing ishe justifies himself. But I also want to protect them: if one day there is an accident, this technical inspection will prove their good faith and the state of their property. »
Take action as a last resort
Among the four measures proposed by the member in his text tabled at The national assembly, the last one caused a great stir on social networks. This one, “more coercive”aims to impose the conclusion of a lease for rehabilitation if the owner does not rectify a situation of danger or unsanitary housing that he has rented.
A type of lease that already exists and which allows an owner unable to renovate his property to entrust the work to a specialized organization for a specific period during which the owner would become the tenant of the accommodation. At the end of this period, he will regain full enjoyment of his property.
I don’t want to see a sleep merchant play the innocent anymore when faced with a fait accompli.
Guillaume Vuilletet, Renaissance MP
Imposing this lease worries the most ardent defenders of private property, some even shouting at the “spoliation”. “The idea is above all to oblige, as a last resort, the owners to do work in unsanitary housing, because this represents a risk for the tenants as well as for the other inhabitants of the building”reassures the deputy.
For Guillaume Vuilletet, the time has come to crack down: “I don’t want to see a slum-monger play the innocent anymore when confronted with a fait accompli. »
The elected Renaissance indicates that he is open to discussions around his bill, whether within the presidential majority or with his colleagues from other benches. It could possibly be integrated into a “housing package” which would be on the agenda of the future parliamentary niche of the Renaissance group.
On the government side, Olivier Klein, Minister Delegate in charge of the City and Housing, last week entrusted a mission to “strengthen the fight against unfit housing” to Michèle Lutz, Mayor of Mulhouse and Mathieu Hanotin, Mayor of St Denis.
