Written by Baptiste Mezerette
Danièle and André Hoyez have lived for 35 years next to the abandoned house of a family who left to wage jihad in Syria in 2014. This home is completely dilapidated and, over time, water has seeped into the Roubaisian retirees.
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“Today, we live in our kitchen and our veranda, because the rest of the house has become unsanitary, and it is becoming difficult for us.” At the end of the line, Danièle Hoyez traces the thread of this story which has been ruining her house and her daily life as a retiree for several years.
To set the scene, Danièle, a former educator, and her husband André, a former house painter, have lived at 38 rue des Arts, in Roubaix for 35 years. “We like our neighborhood, we have good contacts with the people”, explains the 65-year-old woman, who wants to continue living here, in Trichon, despite the ordeal.
It all started in 2014. At that time, their adjoining neighbors at number 40 were none other than the Tahar Aouidate family. After rapid radicalization under the leadership of his son Folid, 23 members of this family joined the ranks of Daesh in Syria.
Today, several are dead, others imprisoned in camps or in France. More recently, one of the girls, Sana, 24, mother of two children, returned to France and was subject to expulsion proceedings by the Northern prefecture.
Once abandoned, the Tahar Aouidate house will be reinvested by drug traffickers. The place has in fact been transformed into a “cannabis farm”. The Hoyez couple noticed this when the police invaded the place in 2020. “The house was already in a sad state, says the Roubaisienne. There was no more flooring, water was stagnating on the ground, the roof had lost tiles.”
But for the retired couple, the big problems occurred in January 2022, following water damage from number 40. The walls became waterlogged, the humidity spread to the living room, the bedroom and the furniture. become moldy inside. “At that time, the insurance company notified the Roubaix town hall, says Danièle Hoyez. But nothing is done and I can't intervene in my neighbor's house because it's private.”
One problem led to another, in August 2024, they observed that fungi appeared on the walls and under the Hoyez parquet floors, under the effect of humidity. It’s dry rot, they assure. “90% humidity was noted in the walls, she specifies. It was getting serious, we couldn’t wait any longer.”Furniture is moldy in the living room and one bedroom “eaten by humidity”. Some rooms can no longer be heated.
According to them, the Roubaix town hall is sending several formal notices to the address of the abandoned house from September 2024. Because the Aouidate family remains the owner of the premises. “But nothing is done,” notes, bitterly, the Northerner. So, in December, an appointment was made with the town planning deputy of the City of Roubaix, Philippe Stephan, to get things moving.
"He told us he would put a tarpaulin on the roof of the abandoned house, but would not treat the rot," she reports. And it encourages us to leave the house quickly for our health.”
According to the Hoyez, the City would have committed to repurchase their property, for an “unknown” amount, but which would allow them, “only”,of “buy a small house.”They feel wronged.
The Hoyezes would like work to be done on their neighbors and their own homes. “We made a quote estimated at 40,000 euros for work on our premises”, assures the retiree. But at this time no one is ready to take care of them. According to them, the insurance places the responsibility on the town hall. “The insurance abandons us, the town hall says it is not responsible”, she is indignant.
For the neighboring house, things should progress. The Roubaix municipal council voted for a deliberation declaring the obvious state of abandonment of the vacant house of the jihadists, opening the way to an expropriation procedure, which will be carried out by the Métropole de Lille and its concessionaire. “The making of neighborhoods”. According to Danièle Hoyez, this expropriation could be effective “during the second half of 2025”.
“The rehabilitation of the building will allow the creation of one or more social housing units”indicates the municipal council report. The purchase price of the house – €82,000 – will be paid to the Caisse des Dépôts. “The amount will be recorded and returned to the owners if they come forward”specifies elected official Philippe Stephan, in an article in the Voix du Nord.
But for the Hoyez, this procedure is “tardive”while they recall having “informed the town hall”from 2017 by registered letter from the state of danger of the neighboring home. And it in no way ensures that they will be compensated for the damage caused to their home.
To try to speed things up, a support petition was launched online, with more than 120 signatures as of December 22. “It shows that we are not alone,” rejoices Danièle Hoyez, who can also count on one of her neighbors who will lend her her house for the Christmas holidays.
