On the one hand, the lack of social housing to meet demand. On the other, the need to change the HLM park by financing its green transition, in particular to renovate the thermal strainers. As financial resources become scarcer, are players in the HLM sector already having to choose between building and renovating? The question stirred up conversations during the HLM congress which was held from September 24 to 26 in Montpellier.
Especially since professionals are worried today about the freezing, by the government which resigned last summer, of more than half of the envelope of 1.2 billion euros over three years intended for the renovation of social housing. to which he had committed in the fall of 2023.
« Like last year, social landlords face the dilemma of renovating thermal sieves and the need to build, and they arbitrate because they do not have the means to do bothobserves Olivier Sichel, deputy general manager of Caisse des Dépôts and director of Banque des Territoires. We believe that they will continue to favor thermal renovation at an annual rate of 130,000 housing units between 2024 and 2027 but that we will remain at a low level of construction, around 77,000 new housing units per year, which remains low… Social landlords are ahead in the eradication of thermal sieves, more than in the private sector. But between 2013 and 2023, the cost of renovation has doubled. »
Minister Valérie Létard promises to “fight for housing”
“Between social floor and planetary limits”
On the ground, social landlords are at work, maneuvering with difficulty between regulation, innovation and experimentation, trying to reconcile the energy and ecological improvement of their housing stock with maintaining acceptable rents.
« We are already working on RE 2031 construction issues to demonstrate that it is possible to build economically and ecologically viable housing, with the objective of reducing the costs of our tenants.explains Karine Lascols, general director of the social landlord Domanys, in Yonne. The idea being to find ourselves in a field of action which lies between maintaining the social floor for our tenants and respecting planetary limits. »
Because according to the now well-known expression, the problem of social housing tenants is still the end of the month rather than the end of the world… “Energy performance lowers the bill, yes, but we must be aware that we are talking about subjects with long-term deadlines to audiences who have short-term problems, confirms Bernard Giusti, treasurer of the Force Ouvrière Consommateurs Association (AFOC) and administrator of Toulouse Métropole Habitat. They share the subject but it is not necessarily a priority for them. Acceptance comes through appropriation: for example, we ask tenants to save water, but at the same time, there are leaks in the residence and we wait a long time for someone to come and solve the problem. … »
The other difficulty, highlighted by Karine Lascols, is that of working on these thermal renovation issues with companies that are not always ready, “ but we need to get the ecosystem on board to evolve the models ”, she notes. The training issues are therefore fundamental. But with the crisis, an entire network of building entrepreneurs is going badly, even though the sector must be structured around a technically demanding subject.
« We must not oppose regulation and innovation, we must find the right cursorreplies Jean-Charles Colas-Roy, president of COENOVE (association bringing together manufacturers, energy specialists and professionals in energy efficiency in buildings). Manufacturers demand long-term predictability but also intermediate milestones. And stability because what hurts a sector are the ups and downs. »
Not having to arbitrate between green and social
“We are looking for room for maneuver and we are asking for a return from the RLS (solidarity rent reduction, Editor’s note) which deprives social landlords of 1.3 billion euros per year since 2018, but also the unfreezing of aid for the renovation of social housing because without it, certain projects will not be carried out, but the legal obligation is essential “, insisted throughout the congress Emmanuelle Cosse, the president of the Social Union for Housing (USH).
On the occasion of the HLM Congress, several announcements were made by Eric Lombard, Managing Director of Caisse des Dépôts : “As the leading financier of social housing, the Banque des Territoires activates all the levers so that landlords do not have to choose between green and social.”
It opens a new envelope of 3 million euros in engineering credits to finance the identification of the exposure of buildings to climatic hazards and the definition of the work to be carried out. An offer which should be deployed at the start of 2025. In addition, the Prioréno Logement Social tool, which already allows landlords to know the actual energy consumption of their park, now includes the potential for installing solar panels on roofs, DPE new generation, and data to prioritize thermal renovation.
Second life of buildings
In partnership with Action Logement, the Banque des Territoires is also opening a new envelope of 140 million euros of high balance sheet loan (with zero-interest financing for twenty years) which will support ambitious green constructions and the transformation of assets existing premises – business premises, offices or building bases – in social housing.
Finally, Eric Lombard announces the generalization of the second life system for buildings, “ costly operations but which restore fifty years of life to a building “. Social landlords will be able to combine a 40-year loan equivalent to the act of building, and a bonus equivalent to the eco-loan for renovation. An experimental phase made it possible to test the device on a thousand homes. The Banque des Territoires is now awaiting the signing of the decree to move from experimentation to generalization. A file on the desk of the new Minister of Housing, Valérie Létard.
The Minister of Housing closes the HLM congress… without making an announcement
