Jobs but not enough housing. This is the difficult equation that the town of Chanverrie, in Vendée, is trying to solve, where the unemployment rate is around 4% and the rental situation is particularly tight. To attract labor to this territory made up of industries, SMEs and farms, an operation called Habiflex, described as unprecedented in France, is underway. Twenty houses of approximately 65 m2 (T3), of the modular type, are being installed on still unoccupied land in the municipality. The fifty inhabitants, employees on professional mobility, are expected from the beginning of December.
“The objective is to considerably reduce construction and award times to meet an urgent need,” explains Gonzague Noyelle, CEO of Podeliha. Two of the houses will also be furnished”. According to the social landlord, it will be necessary to justify certain conditions of resources, but above all a promise of employment or an apprenticeship contract in the department to claim it. Then, each new inhabitant will be able to move in for a period of one year, with the possibility of extending for another twelve months.
Houses moved in seven years
The price of the rent will be 333 to 376 euros per month, charges included, for a house with an open kitchen, a living room of more than 30 m2, two bedrooms, but also an individual garden with terrace. Personalized support will be offered to each tenant to find a new home at the end of the lease term.
In the meantime, the express site is taking its course in Chanverrie, but especially in the premises of the Leco company, in Loire-Atlantique, where the modules, in wooden frames, were built in six months. The housing should be moved within seven years to free up the land and meet other needs of the territory. For this first experiment, Podeliha is investing 3.7 million euros over ten years.