The exchanges were rather courteous during the first debate of the Parisian municipal elections, last Wednesday. Far from the great invectives which it is frequent to attend during these meetings, the small spades were more finely brought, the candidates using irony to contradict their adversaries. But in the case of Paris, a subject has been straining for weeks Anne Hidalgo and Rachida Dati: the policy of social housing.
What Anne Hidalgo and Rachida Dati said
Questioned by Serge Federbusch (RN) on the subject, the outgoing mayor took the opportunity to attack his rival LR head-on:
- What I understand is that you do not want, and many here do not want, social housing, launches Anne Hidalgo, turning to her competitor.
- Ah yes, but for the middle classes! retorts the second.
- 2.5% social housing in the 7th, frankly, we are far from the mark!
- You say it yourself, there is a land problem. I have always accepted social housing. Madame Hidalgo, the left gargles diversity, it made ghettos. All social parks in Paris are ghetto dynamics.
- That, of course, the seventh is not a ghetto of social housing…
On social networks, at the same time, the first housing assistant Ian Brossat denounces a certain hypocrisy of the candidate LR.
Dear @datirachida, it's nice to quote me 3 times, but you objected with great obstinacy to the 251 social housing units on rue Saint-Dominique in your borough. This is the truth. #LaGrandeConfrontationParis
- Ian Brossat (@IanBrossat) March 4, 2020The case of rue Saint-Dominique
Ian Brossat talks about the 251 apartments on rue Saint-Dominique here. An exceptional operation for the town hall which boasts of the operation for three years. Because the place is exceptional. After tough negotiations between the State and the municipality, the RIVP, one of the donors of Paris, was able to get hold of the 17,000 m2 of former offices of the Ministry of Defense, against 29 M €.
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Social housing will be installed on the Saint-Germain block, next to the National Assembly and very close to the Musée d'Orsay. Among these 251 dwellings, 10% are reserved for the military. 126 dwellings are reserved for households with economic and social difficulties (PLAI), 100 PLUS dwellings, traditional low-cost housing, the ceiling for which can benefit two people is set at € 35,000. And 25 accommodations reserved for intermediate classes.
"The inhabitants feel aggrieved"
Did Rachida Dati oppose the creation of these social housing? To get the answer, you have to delve into the minutes of the borough council of November 27, 2017. From the outset, she explains her reservations about the project. "The Mayor indicates that in this complex, only 25 dwellings may concern applicants for the 7th because the 700 requests that are made in the 7th concern intermediate housing", we read.
The criticisms of Rachida Dati, supported by her adviser Yves Pozzo di Borgo, do not stop there. And even if all the rest of the Saint-Germain block will be dedicated to high-end buildings, the mayor of the 7th arrondissement says "fear of having to do the police" in these dwellings reserved for more precarious homes. "When owners have bought their housing, 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000 euros per square meter and a resident opposite throws things over the balcony, or the common areas are not respected, the inhabitants will feel aggrieved to have saved to be in permanent conflict, "she continues.
While repeating many times not to be opposed to social housing, Rachida Dati announces finally wanting to negotiate a reorientation of the project, so that it is exclusively intended for intermediate housing. The entire borough council is therefore opposed to the social housing project, with the exception of one councilor, Paul Larock, a former socialist who worked for LREM. A vote without concrete consequences for the progress of the project, the opinion of the borough council being purely advisory.
Rachida Dati advocates intermediate housing
Rachida Dati is not always so strongly opposed to social housing in her borough. But she still insists that the housing reserved for the lowest income is not the most numerous.
In June 2015, the municipal council was debating the creation of 18 social housing units on rue de Lille. "The mayor indicates having previously agreed with the Paris City Hall that out of the 18 social housing units offered in this program, two-thirds are intermediate social housing units," he said in his absence. Of the 18 dwellings, 6 were effectively reserved for the households most in difficulty. It was also noted that the mayor of the borough would be able to allocate three of these new dwellings.
A funny wish in 2013
For years, the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of the capital has opposed the majority on housing policy. In 2013, Rachida Dati had sparked a lively controversy by co-signing with Yves Pozzo di Borgo a wish to the Council of Paris which would in fact have limited the construction of social housing if it had been implemented. Candidate LR called for excluding "the use of contemporary architecture" and "preserving the absence of broken façades" on Haussmann buildings. Above all, it proposed to reduce the percentage of areas to be allocated to social housing from 30% to 25%, while raising the threshold of the minimum area for application of this measure from 800 m2 to 1,500 m2.
This project had sparked a lively controversy at the Paris Council, even in the ranks of the UMP. "We were put before the fait accompli", was annoyed with the Parisian Jean-François Legaret, who then chaired the UMP group at the Council of Paris. "I have not seen that this wish, deposited without our knowledge, included provisions on social housing". The elected UMP in Paris had decided to oppose this wish of Rachida Dati, who defended himself by ensuring wanting to defend the heritage and not reduce social housing.
The 7th district, the least supplied
"Do you know someone who would say I am against social housing ?" Quips Ian Brossat. I am not saying that it systematically opposes projects, but it slows down as much as possible and seeks to have as little PLAI (housing dedicated to the most precarious) as possible. "
To guarantee a little more diversity in Paris, so dear to Rachida Dati, Ian Brossat considers it essential to install priority families in difficulty in the 7th arrondissement, one of the wealthiest districts, rather than in the northern districts and east of the capital. Especially since the opportunities are rare, the 7th arrondissement being particularly dense, with almost zero construction capacity. To date, the district with the least social housing remains. And the one, too, where the increase in the number of dwellings was the weakest in raw data.
The quarrels between Rachida Dati and Anne Hidalgo on social housing were almost announced. On April 17, 2014, just after the election of the second as mayor of Paris, Rachida Dati had expressed her regret at no longer seeing Ian Brossat, just appointed housing assistant, sit on the board of directors of the Eiffel Tower , said Le Nouvel Observateur . Response from the communist elected official: "So that you don't forget me, I promise to make lots of social housing in the 7th district".
In summary
Difficult, as often, to estimate on the basis of his only positions as mayor of the 7th arrondissement that Rachida Dati is opposed to social housing. What is certain, however, is that in 2017, she voted against the project to create social housing on rue Saint Dominique. The same one that was mentioned in the debate last week.
Candidate LR, by saying that she wants to defend diversity in buildings, refuses that too many dwellings dedicated to people most in difficulty be reserved there. The 7th arrondissement is however one of the wealthiest districts of the capital.
However, the positions taken by the borough mayor have no weight since his opinions are merely advisory. A sign that the town hall itself is struggling to create low-cost housing in this very dense arrondissement. And rich.