Lyon: faced with the real estate crisis, the mayor pulls out all the stops for social housing

A plan to tackle the housing crisis in Lyon? This is what the environmentalist mayor Grégory Doucet presented on the eve of the municipal council this Wednesday, June 26. Accompanied by Sophia Popoff, Assistant for Housing and Urban Renewal, the elected official detailed three measures to help a sector in difficulty.

The main axes of this new municipal action plan are access to housing for the modest and middle classes, decent, comfortable and low-impact housing, as well as assistance in resorting to the law.

More than 4 million euros for social housing

“We are going to vote on subsidies for the production of social housing worth more than 4 million euros. We revised the scales at the end of 2023. We are going up to 500 euros per m2. We are the only city in France to do so,” announces the municipal majority. In Lyon, the rate of social housing is 23%below the 25% required by the SRU law.

To these 4 million euros is added a fund dedicated this time to owners who live in “unworthy” habitats. The envelope is estimated at 500,000 euros.

The use of law will notably concern the financing of associations which support tenants in complex procedures against their owners. For example, the new Bail 69 association will benefit from a subsidy of 5,000 euros.

The latter has already shown its effectiveness. “After the first three visits, ten households were supported and two households won their case up to 2,600 euros of excess rent for one and 1,600 euros for the other,” says Sophia Popoff.

Rent control: “We see that it works”

The mayor of Lyon also took the opportunity to take stock of rent control. Highly criticized by real estate professionals, particularly from the FNAIM du Rhône, this measure works according to Grégory Doucet.

“In Lyon, the increase in rents is only 0.4% in 2022, while other comparable cities are at +5%. Rent control, we see that it works. The demand for affordable housing is extremely strong. We need to have proactive action on rent control,” assures the mayor of the capital of Gaul.

However, Grégory Doucet recognizes: “It can have collateral effects, but today, they are not concretely visible. The brakes are interest rates and inflation on the cost of materials. This is what impacts the housing sector globally. On this, we need a national policy. »

He specifies that this is not a measure “which aims to point the finger at owners or investors”.

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