Public housing in France

Public housing in France (French: logement social, also called Habitations à loyer modéré, or HLM) is a central, local or social program designed to provide subsidized assistance for low-income and poor people.

HLM in Paris's 13th arrondissement

History
The 18th-century Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans,which provided worker's housing

France has a long tradition of social and state intervention in the provision of housing. In 1775, the Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans was built with a part dedicated to house workers.[1] In the 19th century the cités ouvrières (company towns) appeared, inspired by the Phalanstère of Charles Fourier.[2] After World War II the population increased at a rate previously unknown, the rural exodus increased and war damage had reduced the number of houses in many cities. Rental prices dramatically rose so the government passed a rent control law in 1949. That effectively ended the economic benefits of housing investment. Also, construction was strictly regulated, which made building very difficult without political support.

The government launched a huge construction plan, including the creation of new towns ("villes nouvelles") and new suburbs with HLM (Habitation à Loyer Modéré, "low-rent housing"). The state had the money and the legal means to acquire the land and could provide some advantages to the companies that built the huge housing complexes of hundreds of apartments. Quality was also effectively regulated, resulting in decent or even top-quality housing for the 1950s and 1960s.

HLM construction was also a major source of political financing, and building companies were sometimes made to pay back the political party of the mayor who launched an HLM program. That resulted in corruption scandals in the Paris region and elsewhere.

In 1998, a law required every town in France to have at least 20% HLM.[3]

Different kinds of social housing
Public housing of the rue Jean Fautrier in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, France
  • The HLM, Habitations à loyer modéré, can be private or public; they are the most common and house an estimated thirteen million people
  • Subsidized housing (built by private sector)
  • Co-operatives

Effect on economy

The social housing programs in France have an obvious positive effect on the consumption of the households that benefit from them.[4] There is no consensus about the influence on either the rents of the private sector or the prices of real estate.

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See also

Notes and references
  1. "Saline Royale - Le monument". official website of the EPCC Saline Royale. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  2. Monin, Emmanuel-Yves. Chez les Bâtisseurs d'Utopies. Monin.
  3. Article 55 of the "Loi relative à la solidarité et au renouvellement urbains". Archived from the original on 2004-08-03.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Applies to towns of more than 3,500 inhabitants (1,500 in Île-de-France) located in urban agglomerations of more than 50,000 inhabitants, with at least one commune of more than 15,000 inhabitants.
  4. le Blanc, David; Anne Laferrère (December 2001). "The Effect of Public Social Housing on Households' Consumption in France" (PDF). Journal of Housing Economics. 10 (4): 429–455. doi:10.1006/jhec.2001.0300. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
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