In order to house people suffering from a lack of security, Housing and Humanism has developed several tools, the most important of which is La Foncière, a company which purchases and renovates housing. It also encourages private owners to rent their property to people in difficulty by guaranteeing their rent. Finally, Housing and Humanism directly rents housing to social tenants or institutions.

Housing and Humanism is an associative movement created in 1985 to provide decent housing to the most disadvantaged sectors, in areas without social stigma. People are at the heart of the associative project, which pursues three objectives: Homes for all, a city with a human face, shared economy. The movement has grown in scope, and now 39 associations and 1300 charitable bodies throughout France intervene on a local basis to find housing, support families and contribute their know how.

To develop the Housing and Humanism housing pool, the director and administrators investigate and target cities and neighbourhoods with little social housing, meet lessors, owners and local elected representatives to get their support for projects. To encourage the insertion and adaptation of families to their new context, all tenants are supported by charitable bodies. This approach allows for an adapted individual response.

The structure covers all departments outside Seine-et-Marne, and has 340 homes in 45 cities, whose rental varies depending on the financing obtained. These apartments make it possible to house families who do not have access to social housing.

Households benefiting from housing in the Housing and Humanism pool are advised by social services and are interviewed by association staff. For 80% of them, income is below the threshold which limits access to social housing. A quarter of residents are single mothers. In the framework of its powers, the association ensures a mixed profile of households, with diverse origins.

In Ile-de-France since 1992, the association operates with eight employees and 130 volunteers. Also, the movement benefits from the skills of a network of professional volunteers from the construction, architecture, banking and real estate sectors. La Foncière, a Housing and Humanism company, is financed with a capital base of 25%, the rest coming from state subsidies and local authorities (50 %) and loans (25 %) from the Caisse des dépôts (public financial institution) and “1%” Employer-sponsored Housing Aid Programme. Finally, joint savings products help to finance actions.

Habitat et Humanisme
France
Mrs. Claire Châlons (IIe-de-France Habitat et Humanisme Director), tel. +33 1 48 87 93 87

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Urban Policy > Housing > Housing policy

Social housing