Finding accommodation in the capital has never been so difficult. While students have started the school year in campsites, workers are forced to sleep in their cars and hundreds of children and their families are sleeping on the streets, a worrying study from the Parisian Urban Planning Workshop (Apur) had the merit of raising awareness.
Temporary vacancy linked to the market, constant increase in the number of second homes... This revealed in December that 262,000 housing units, or 19% of the Parisian real estate stock, were unoccupied in Paris in 2020, compared to 14% in 2011 (191,000 housing). A development linked in part to the increase in undeclared furnished tourist rentals and which results in a drop in the Parisian population, the capital having lost an average of 11,500 inhabitants each year over this period.
Fight against timeshare
An edifying observation that the first deputy mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire (PS), wishes to address. In an open letter published this Thursday, April 11, in partnership with the Jean Jaurès foundation, the elected official asks that communities have the power to requisition housing in tense areas. “We must get out of a two-speed France, where the richest can be multiple owners and underutilize their homes, where those who live and work there can no longer find housing there,” he says.
If the tool already exists, it remains “under-exploited by the State”, considers Emmanuel Grégoire, even though it could be a powerful lever in the hands of town halls and local administrations. Indeed, this procedure remains to this day in the hands of the prefects who can requisition premises vacant for more than twelve months in municipalities where significant imbalances exist.
“In Paris, and in dense areas where employment opportunities are concentrated, the situation is particularly problematic,” emphasizes Emmanuel Grégoire. Indeed, second homes now represent 9% of the stock, a figure which is close to the national level (9.5%) while the market is already much tighter than in the rest of France.
Beyond the requisitions of vacant housing, the first deputy proposes that communities can use water and electricity consumption data for the purposes of identifying unoccupied or underused housing, a method used to carry out the published study by the Apur.
Higher taxed second homes
To this, the left-wing elected official adds that the right to requisition communities “must be supplemented by effective taxation of second homes in tense areas, making cities more equitable and accessible,” he declares in his press release.
The production of new social housing remains largely insufficient according to the left-wing elected official. “Mayors no longer hesitate to not only lock down their local urban planning plans (PLU) to limit any land opportunities, but also to simply not issue authorizations and building permits even if the projects comply with the regulations. This conservative trend knowingly avoids the question of welcoming new populations and future generations,” he denounces.
If he manages to obtain the approval of the State, Emmanuel Grégoire hopes with his new provisions to deter the accumulation of unused real estate and thus free up housing for those looking for a roof over their heads, “in particular for families with medium or low incomes”, at the same time promoting “better social diversity and fighting against gentrification”.
He also assures that this change would also be beneficial environmentally. “We have no other choice than to exploit what exists and continue to optimize and build in areas of opportunity and desire,” ultimately believes Anne Hidalgo’s right-hand man.