Rare hollow teeth, a few courtyards and that’s about it: in the small medieval town of Moncontour, available land is an extremely rare commodity. Or even non-existent. Surrounded by ramparts, the smallest Costa Rican municipality in terms of surface area has already urbanized its 48 hectares and can almost no longer expand. “We rather aspire to revegetate the few spaces that remain,” explains Mayor Anne-Gaud Millorit. Therefore, a question arises: how to attract newcomers to this Small Town of Character, labeled among the Most Beautiful Villages in France, which has 768 inhabitants and 14% second homes?
The stakes are high for the municipal team which is calling for help. “Today, with the ZAN law (zero net artificialization), municipalities must reduce the consumption of agricultural land and densify housing. In this context, Moncontour may be part of the solution,” suggests Anne-Gaud Millorit, before adding: “We have 25% vacant housing and large empty buildings. We could do T2 or T3 there. There were up to 2,000 inhabitants here at the end of the 18th century. There can be more of us than there are now. But the State must support us.”
The Airbnb danger
Because in Moncontour, as in many “old city centers”, the energy performance of buildings is an important issue. Housing must be renovated; adapt them too, especially for the elderly. Projects that cost. “Alone, we don’t have the means. Our town is in financial difficulty,” recalls the elected official, also aware that owners are increasingly turning to seasonal rentals, in particular via Airbnb (a dozen accommodations are currently offered on the platform).
“Moncontour is a tourist town, we are happy to welcome these passing residents. But above all, the village needs year-round residents,” says first deputy Enguerrand Rouzic.
Too small to benefit from assistance systems
For now, the prospects for support are almost non-existent. “Our size penalizes us, since state grants are mainly calculated according to the number of inhabitants and not architectural heritage,” explains the mayor.
The Lamballe Terre et Mer agglomeration also focuses its support for social housing on the municipalities concerned by the SRU law (solidarity and urban renewal), namely Lamballe-Armor, Pléneuf-Val-André, Erquy and Quessoy. “We are also too small to enter the Petite Ville de Demain system, unlike Lamballe or Jugon-les-Lacs,” continues Anne-Gaud Millorit.
However, the municipal team has already identified public buildings that could accommodate renovated housing in the future. Starting with the old association house. The building was put up for sale by the council. All that remains is to find the project leaders… While hoping for a helping hand from the State to support them.
