Barely presented, already under fire from critics. Like his “anti-squats” law, Guillaume Kasbarian’s Housing bill is already causing cries from the left and associations who accuse him of “chasing out the poor”. In question, the reform of the SRU law (Solidarity and urban renewal) which plans to include 25% of intermediate housing (intended for the middle classes) in the quota (25%) of social housing imposed by law on cities of more than 3500 inhabitants. Another aspect is much talked about: evicting tenants who are “too rich”.
From the first extra euro, the Minister of Housing, whose bill will be examined in June by the Senate and in September by the National Assembly, wants to charge additional rent to HLM tenants who exceed the maximum income ( which depend on your city and your family situation). If the tenants’ income is 20% higher than this threshold over two years in a row, the social landlord can terminate the contract of the tenants concerned who will have 18 months to turn around. Guillaume Kasbarian wants landlords to have access to tenants’ assets – thanks in particular to the new declaration of real estate which caused a lot of talk last summer. Thus, if a tenant owns “equivalent property” – to be defined by decree – he may be evicted and invited to live in this accommodation.
But that’s not all. The Minister of Housing wishes, by amendment, to evaluate other criteria for evicting tenants from HLM: “incivility, offenses and crimes”. “It is not normal for people who live in social housing, where society puts money, to be bothered by some who do not respect the laws and commit delinquency,” denounced Guillaume Kasbarian this Sunday on France Inter which considers it “legitimate” that “we also assess whether (the tenants of HLM) are respectful of the rules of the Republic and co-ownership.” The minister relies on the law which governs co-ownerships: it provides that each occupant of a co-ownership certainly “freely uses and enjoys the private areas and the common areas” but “under the condition of not (not) infringing the rights of the other co-owners” (article 9 of the law of July 10, 1965).
Deploring that social landlords act “with a certain delay and sometimes with some difficulties”, the minister wishes to “go further” on the subject. “Order and authority apply to everyone,” warns the minister. Currently, several cities have already taken steps to evict the families of delinquents in public housing. This has been the case in Nice since 2021. The public prosecutor’s office, the national and municipal police and the city’s main social landlord have signed an agreement to “reinforce the security and tranquility of residents of the social housing stock”. This is how in Nice, a mother was evicted from her HLM after her son was convicted of drug trafficking near their building.