The arrival at the Ministry of Housing of Guillaume Kasbarian, bearer of an anti-squat law, triggered a wave of indignation on the left and concern in social housing circles and solidarity associations.
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The elected representative of Eure-et-Loir, appointed Thursday after a month without a minister specifically responsible for Housing, has the heavy task of confronting a historic crisis, with production at half mast, an endless increase in the number of households waiting of HLM, or saturation of emergency accommodation structures.
His appointment to the Ministry of Housing, after two former socialists - Patrice Vergriete and Olivier Klein - marks a clear shift to the right, he whose main achievement in terms of housing is to have adopted, in 2023, a law toughening penalties against squatters.
The general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Christophe Robert, told AFP that
he “hopes that the new Minister for Housing will be more attentive to the suffering of the poorly housed and to the difficulties experienced by our fellow citizens in terms of poor housing than “he was not when he passed a law which caused a lot of damage”
.
"Provocation"
Eddie Jacquemart, president of the National Housing Confederation, the first association of HLM tenants and close to the Communist Party, estimated on franceinfo that his arrival was
“a real slap in the face to the entire housing sector”
and a
“declaration of war on tenants »
.
“A provocation”
, several left-wing elected officials jointly judged.
“Naming the one whose only feat of arms is to have facilitated evictions is a spit in the faces of the 4 million poorly housed people and 330,000 homeless people
,” denounced the head of LFI deputies Mathilde Panot on X.
“Guillaume Kasbarian is the author of the most repressive law on evictions in decades
,” launched the communist Jacques Baudrier, deputy for Housing at Paris town hall, on the same network, while the leader of the environmentalist senators Guillaume Gontard mocked the arrival of a
“minister of eviction”
.
“Strong action and investment”
On the side of employers' organizations, the president of the National Real Estate Federation, Loïc Cantin, judges that Guillaume Kasbarian
“showed strong will, action and investment when he worked on the anti-squats law.
But that’s not what makes a housing minister.
His action as Minister of Housing will depend entirely on the roadmap he has and his ability to listen to professionals
.
However,
“we cannot be satisfied
,” he said, with the objective of 30,000 new housing units in 20 predefined territories mentioned by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal during his general policy speech.
“The government's first announcements at the end of January are not up to par and do not respond to current issues
,” the Housing Alliance, a gathering of professional organizations in the sector, also said in a press release.
“It is time to do everything possible to relaunch, throughout France, new construction and boost the renovation of housing
,” adds the Alliance.
The number of building permits issued in 2023 fell by 23.7% to 373,100, while according to several professional federations, around 500,000 per year would be needed to meet the needs.
Gabriel Attal had also aroused fears among defenders of social housing, by suggesting softening the SRU law which requires municipalities to respect social housing quotas.
“I clearly call on him to renounce reforming the SRU law which would be a catastrophe for republican equality
,” Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the Social Union for Housing, a confederation of social landlords, told AFP.
“What I am waiting for is to know how our minister will help us deal with the housing crisis and produce more social housing
,” she added.