This is the Abbé Pierre Foundation’s 11th report on the state of poor housing in France. This year’s report highlights the “dramatic situation in which over 3 million people are currently living”. In particular, it puts the spotlight on housing for young people, who are harshly impacted by current economic and social developments and are having a hard time finding housing and therefore integrating society. The report also analyses the connection between the housing crisis and the crisis in the suburbs, stressing the lack of social housing production and the feverishly high prices on the property market.

This latest edition of the Abbé Pierre Foundation Report examines the causes which the Foundation believes contributed to the dramatic events of 2005 and indicates the many danger signs that can currently be observed in France: increase in the number of eviction requests, increase in housing-related expenses in household budgets, decrease in effort on the part of the government in support of housing.

This report is intended to be as objective and thoroughly documented as possible; it is based on contributions from actors of civil society with firsthand knowledge of the difficulties in terms of social integration facing the hardest-impacted populations.

The report lists some ten proposals for improving housing access for young people and helping them keep their housing once they get it, as well as for increasing production of “affordable housing”. The Abbé Pierre Foundation also suggests that there is a need to balance out the distribution of social housing in France, eradicate unliveable housing, and better prevent evictions from rented properties. Moreover, the report concludes that social cohesion must go hand in hand with urban renewal, ensuring in particular that the reconstitution of the offering in terms of demolished properties does not lead to a decrease in the offering in terms of affordable housing.

Abbé Pierre Foundation for housing for the disadvantaged
Christophe Robert (Head of studies and research), tel. +33 1 55 56 37 00

01/02/2006

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Abbé Pierre Foundation for housing for the disadvantaged

research

Urban Policy

Housing