Social Landlord Rives de Seine Habitat, Under Fire for Housing Allocation Issues
Social worker in Hauts-de-Seine fined €1.8 million for multiple violations.
In a shocking twist, France's controversial social landlord Rives de Seine Habitat has been hit with a hefty €1.8 million fine due to their deficient housing allocation practices, as reported by AFP on Tuesday, 6th May.
This financial penalty, revealed by specialized media Batiactu in late April, stems from non-compliant allocation policies uncovered during inspections conducted by the National Agency for the Control of Social Housing (Ancols) in the public housing offices (OPH) of Courbevoie, Levallois, and Puteaux. These offices merged in 2022.
Ancols' inspection reports highlighted numerous issues, such as the organization's failure to allocate 25% of housing annually to the most modest households, and disregard for surcharges for tenants whose resources exceeded the ceiling. The OPH of Puteaux was specifically criticized for allocating 81 housing units to households with resources surpassing the ceilings, for poorly implementing the surcharge system, and for presenting multiple irregularities within its housing allocation committee.
The OPH of Puteaux had faced scrutiny back in 2016 for "irregularities in the allocation and management rules of social housing" and a "serious management fault" in the arrangement of a car park, resulting in a fine of over one million euros. While the Council of State largely annulled this sanction in 2018, it had pointed out that OPHs were not within Ancols’ control.
In response to the 2023 Ancols report, Rives de Seine Habitat believes that "many findings and observations are now obsolete" and that certain recommendations are no longer relevant, given the creation of a new HLM office. They assure that "corrective measures have been taken on rental management" and claim that "most of the remarks and observations made by Ancols will be taken into account" by the new entity. Rives de Seine Habitat contests the shortcomings related to public markets.
The massive penalty amount is justified by the "gravity and recurrence of the facts, the financial situation, and the size of the OPH Rives de Seine Habitat", according to the Ministry of Housing.
Apart from Rives de Seine Habitat, another HLM cooperative, Hauts-de-Bièvre Habitat based in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine department, has been fined €478,000 by the Ministry for shortcomings in its allocation of social housing.
For a deeper dive into the topic, check out our subscriber-exclusive articles "Thermal leakages: the housing gendarme of HLM is concerned about the conduct of energy renovation" and "Parisian housing: when social landlords bet on architecture".
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- The OPH of Levallois was included among the public housing offices inspected by Ancols, which uncovered deficient housing allocation practices.
- Rives de Seine Habitat believes that some findings and recommendations from the 2023 Ancols report are now obsolete, given the creation of a new HLM office.
- Apart from Rives de Seine Habitat, the HLM cooperative Hauts-de-Bièvre Habitat was also fined €478,000 by the Ministry for shortcomings in its allocation of social housing.
- For the business industry, finance, and general-news enthusiasts, it's essential to keep track of these mounting penalties and shortcomings in the social housing sector.
- In 2023, not only Rives de Seine Habitat, but also Hauts-de-Bièvre Habitat faced penalties for their shortcomings in the allocation of social housing, indicating a need for improved measures in the industry.
