Anne-Lise and Christophe Botté, living in Gorre, in Haute-Vienne since 2020 in a house ravaged by rot, feel “abandoned” and are asking for help “which is slow in coming” according to them. Met at the end of March, we wanted to take stock, three months later, to find out if their fight against this devastating fungus was well underway. If the town hall of Gorre and the association helping victims of dry rot and wood-eating mushrooms based in Vendée try to help them, their situation still remains alarming. Explanations.
When we contacted them to hear from them two months after the first report, Anne-Lise Botté burst into tears.
Their house, with modern and healthy packaging in a place called Savignac, in Gorre, southwest of Limoges, only has the appearance. Inside, the bedroom walls have fallen down. The glass wool is removed, and the plasterboards are in pieces. A large sheet separates the living area from the disaster, and to access it, the couple systematically puts on overshoes.
Anne-Lise and her husband Christophe, who came from Toulon in 2020, are gradually destroying their haven of peace, which has been eaten away since enormous water damage by “the cancer of wood”: dry rot. “We didn’t touch anything for a month and a half, and since mid-May, we’ve been breaking everything little by little, we’re going to remove the flooring,” laments Anne-Lise, rolling her eyes. The goal is to refurbish the house. » She takes a deep breath, and continues: “We’re not even sure that this solves the problem.”
Calls for help went in vain
The problem is that “no one is helping us”, regrets those concerned, who have suffered a number of disappointments: “We are not followed by legal protection and our insurance does not cover the damage caused by rot. “.
So the couple launched distress calls, heard by the association helping victims of dry rot and wood-eating mushrooms based in Vendée, and the mayor of Gorre Patrice Chauvel. “We counted a lot on this support to help us start from scratch, find solutions, but for two months, the situation has not really changed. We would just like to have a skip to remove the rubble,” adds Christophe, tired by the situation.
“The dry rot is a life that changes”
The Botté couple wanted authorization from the mayor to install two mobile homes – “which we found recently,” they said – on their land.
For this authorization to be issued to install the mobile homes, Patrice Chauvel explains: “Legally, I cannot because of the Alur law. It’s very complicated, I can just close my eyes.” At the beginning of June, Anne-Lise and Christophe activated avenues to purchase these mobile homes in order to install them as quickly as possible on their land.
As for the skip requested by the couple, Patrice Chauvel responds: “During the municipal council of June 5, we decided in a vote to offer them this skip for an amount of €800. And to share the link to the prize pool launched to help them on the town hall’s PanneauPocket website.”
800 € from the town hall, 2,000 from the association
Once mentioned, the intervention of the Vallée de Gorre community of communes will not succeed. Just like the intervention of the Intercommunal Social Action Center. “Information taken, there is no accommodation available to accommodate the Botté couple. And since they don’t want to move away from their home, it’s complicated.” While Anne-Lise explains “crying every day because of this feeling of abandonment and indifference”, she had placed a lot of hope in the help provided by Frédérick Fouchard, president and founder of the Vendée association. . “I know they are waiting for our help, their situation is catastrophic,” breathes Frédérick Fouchard. The association is struggling, but we are fighting in silence. We have released the sum of €2,000 for this couple, and other payments will come before the end of the year. But I don’t want to give false hope, especially not. At the association, this is our priority issue. But 80 new victims have written to us from all over France.”
Which departments and municipalities are infested by dry rot, this invasive and destructive fungus?
“It’s a battlefield”
When contacted, the State services and the Departmental Directorate of Territories in Haute-Vienne ensured that the dry rot declaration was made at the town hall and transmitted. “We cannot act directly, financially,” we assure. There is no special help, just advice. » The couple therefore rolled up their sleeves to move forward and contacted private laboratories specializing in dry rot analysis. “We are testing things… we are going to try fungicide to slow down the proliferation,” they explain. “In any case, we have no solution. The work costs €150,000. We don’t know if the house (purchased for €122,000) will be standing for another 10 minutes, 1 year, or 15 years, it is unsaleable. It’s a battlefield,” the Botté couple conclude in despair. While waiting for the much-desired reinforcement of allies.
Legal problem?
The debate on the installation of mobile homes
Concerning the installation of two mobile homes on their private land, near their house affected by rot, the couple is blocked from obtaining authorization for the building permit. The reason ? As part of the local town planning plan of the commune of Gorre, their land (apart from the place where their current house is located) is declared unbuildable “because it is land declared agricultural”, indicates Anne-Lise Botté.
More than the Alur law, it is therefore this town planning document which blocks the project to establish mobile homes. Contacted, Eric Muller, head of the town planning and housing department at the DDT, indicates that as it stands, the mayor cannot issue authorization to the couple for the installation of mobile homes. “The mayor cannot even rely on article 9 of the law of April 9, 2024, which aims to accelerate and simplify the renovation of degraded housing.”
The head of the department, however, puts forward a hypothesis to respond favorably to the couple’s request: “A system is possible, it is the precarious permit. At the request of the owners, this atypical administrative procedure aims at the installation within a defined time of a habitat capable of meeting an emergency need. In their case, it is a legitimate request.”
Thibaut Dailler
