Started this Monday at the end of the day, the examination of the “anti-squat” bill raised the debates in the National Assembly a notch.
On the one hand, the majority, in particular through the voice of Guillaume Kasbarian, Renaissance deputy author of the proposal, defends the "small owners who do not roll on gold (…), victims of squats or Kafkaesque procedures due to 'unpaid bills that have lasted for years'.
On the other, the left fears a “criminalization of the poorly housed” and firmly opposes the text.
Associations helping the poorly housed also fear a deterioration in the most precarious housing conditions, in an economic context already made difficult by the increase in charges linked to the cost of energy and inflation.
Back in detail on what the vote could change.
What does the law say?
Carried by Horizons and Renaissance, groups of the presidential majority, the text of the law aims first of all to strengthen the sanctions aimed at squatters.
They will be tripled, to three years in prison instead of one and a fine of up to 45,000 euros, against 15,000 euros today.
"There is an urgent need to legislate because we have an imbalance between a right to housing and a right to property which must be respected", insisted Guillaume Kasbarian in an interview with Franceinfo.
The aim is also to shorten the duration of eviction proceedings.
In addition to this section devoted to illegal occupations, the law also provides support for owners who are victims of unpaid bills.
Procedural delays must also be reduced, even if in practice it is difficult to imagine a “revolution”.
Article 5 of the text reduces the minimum period between the assignment of the title of expulsion from the hearing and the day of the hearing from two to one month.
“It is not possible to obtain hearing dates in such a short time, it takes at least six months, regrets Romain Rossi-Landi, a real estate lawyer who deals with around ten squat cases per year.
It would first be necessary to increase the means of justice, to obtain shorter delays”.
Finally, "there is an addition that I absolutely wanted: sanctions on sleep merchants", added the Minister Delegate for Housing Olivier Klein, guest of the Franceinfo morning show on Tuesday.
Article 1 bis, which concerns him, was added in the Commission.
🗣 Anti-squatters law: the left and the associations that defend the poorly housed denounce an "anti-poor measure" ➡️ " It's a balanced law.
We must protect the owners”, defends Olivier Klein, Minister of Housing.
"We are working to prevent evictions" pic.twitter.com/zB2ZPOiGPm
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) November 29, 2022
What are the arguments of the executive and the majority?
From mid-November, Olivier Véran had assured that the executive would support the proposal.
“We must restore the republican order, the law and also protect the owners when they are within their rights”, had launched the government spokesperson.
Others followed, starting with the Minister of Justice on Monday.
“Me, I would like to see if we came to invest your home, that with your key you can no longer enter, we would hear you!
“, he struck in the direction of the rebellious deputies.
This Tuesday on Franceinfo, the Minister Delegate for Housing defended a "balanced project".
“We saw a number of unbearable cases of squats, in which people returned from vacation and could not go home,” he added.
And to ensure: “There are always procedures, there is always a passage before a judge.
He confirms that each expulsion will be subject to a court decision.
Why is the left against it?
The deputies of insubordinate France, of the Socialist Party, the communists and environmentalists are upwind against this text.
“Unpaid rent is exploding in the country, but the presidential minority wants to criminalize people in unpaid rent.
What nonsense !
“denounced Danielle Simonnet, elected from the 15th district of Paris.
Faced with the deputies, she castigated a “homeless factory”.
Squatters: "Your law is a real homeless factory," says @SimonnetDeputee.#DirectAN pic.twitter.com/eHUqbQCAc4
— LCP (@LCP) November 28, 2022
This Tuesday, his colleague François Piquemal (LFI), elected from the 4th constituency of Haute-Garonne, assured in the hemicycle that “squat cases only concern 0.005% of the dwellings listed in this country, 170 cases per year (… ), it is 100 times less than rental evictions”.
The warning cry of associations
By mixing both bad and good faith tenants, the bill has aroused the ire of associations.
But not always for the same reasons.
The anti-squat component is the one that angers the associations the most.
Gathered in a collective, twenty-five associations (including ATD Quart-Monde, La Cimade, Secours Catholique) published a press release on Monday denouncing a text “cruel and useless against homeless and poorly housed people… On time where France has 4 million poorly housed people, 2.2 million HLM applicants, 77,000 households (having) the right to enforceable housing (Dalo) to be rehoused, 3.1 million empty homes, it is the housing crisis that must be fought, and not its victims", criticizes the collective.
“This text will allow evictions in 48 hours, without the intervention of a judge,
Other associations are more rebellious against the measures aimed at bad-paying tenants.
The Confederation housing framework of life (CLCV) criticizes the amalgam which is made between squatters and tenants in good faith.
“We can't put the two on the same level,” insists David Rodrigues, his lawyer in charge of housing.
"We must maintain a legal framework, a lessor must not be able to free himself from recourse to the judge from the first unpaid", he underlines.
It calls for “the pure and simple deletion of this part of the text”.