A homeless woman in Paris. (Drawing) – A. GELEBART / 20 MINUTES
- The winter break, extended by two months due to the health and economic crisis linked to the coronavirus epidemic, ends this Tuesday, June 1. During this period, which usually runs from November 1 to March 31, rental evictions are suspended.
- According to Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, spokesperson for the Right to Housing Association (DAL), “30,000 tenants are threatened with eviction”, mainly “the first to do chores, those who keep France running”.
- The Minister of Housing, Emmanuelle Wargon, warned that there could not be a “blank year” in terms of evictions but promised to “offer rehousing or accommodation to each person concerned” and to “compensate the owners when we don’t evict right away ”.
This Tuesday June 1 officially ends the winter break. Due to the health and economic crisis linked to the coronavirus epidemic, the government had extended this period by two months, which usually suspends rental evictions between November 1 and March 31.
Sunday, nearly a thousand activists, poorly housed people and homeless exiles, demonstrated in Paris for the right to housing and against the resumption of rental evictions with the end of the winter truce. This year, the tenants threatened with eviction are mainly “the first to do chores, those who keep France running”, explained Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, spokesperson for the Right to Housing association, interviewed by 20 minutes.
How many people are threatened with deportation?
From June 1, 30,000 people are threatened with expulsion. For the vast majority, they are tenants in a situation of unpaid bills, sale leave or recovery leave, that is to say that their owner wants to sell or live in this accommodation. Despite what the Minister of Housing, Emmanuelle Wargon has put forward, it is not certain that there is a solution to rehouse these people.
Among those threatened with eviction, there are also people affected by the Dalo law (enforceable right to housing). This law normally obliges the government to relocate these people, who have priority. But the State does not respect this law, it is a fault and a serious injustice. This text, supposed to protect fragile people, is flouted.
Is the number of people threatened with deportation on the rise?
This number is only increasing, there have never been so many evictions, it is a very significant increase. In 2019, there were 16,700 forced evictions, with the intervention of the police. It was already a sad record. Ten years ago, less than 10,000 people were evicted, and 20 years ago, less than 5,000 people. This increase in the number of evictions is the consequence of the rise in rents and the fall in APL. By reducing APL, the government has saved 9 billion since 2017 on the backs of the poorest households. Added with the health and social crisis, it gives this result.
Has the health crisis worsened the housing crisis?
Yes, in part. The health crisis will generate more expulsion procedures. Last year, proceedings were delayed for six months. But since October, there has been an acceleration of the procedures. Due to the health crisis, there have been more tenants who have had payment difficulties. For example, there were 650,000 interventions following an unpaid energy, a large third resulted in power or gas cuts. For the other two-thirds, the energy of the home has been reduced.
Has the profile of people threatened with deportation changed?
Yes. In large cities, there are more and more people from the middle classes, workers who are poorly paid and who can no longer keep up with rising rents. They are all the “first of the ropes”, those who keep France going, who make the country’s economy run with the sweat of their brow, who have low-skilled jobs in hospitals, cleaning companies, on construction sites. , who take care of our old people, are at the supermarket checkouts.
Throwing people onto the street is criminal. When we sleep in the street, we have an average of fifteen years of life expectancy and we die at the age of 50. We must not forget that it is suffering. You lose your friends, your family, your job, your dignity. It is long-lasting torture and cruel punishment.
What measures are you asking for?
Among the emergency measures, we ask for the suspension of evictions if there is no rehousing behind. We must conduct an active policy of mobilizing vacant housing to rehouse the homeless or evicted. Leaving vacant housing is an act of incivility in this context of a serious housing crisis. We also demand the reinstatement of the PLA.
For the basic measures, it is necessary to produce and finance the construction of social housing and to regulate the speculative market which has gone mad. Real estate prices rose 6% last year in the midst of a health crisis, it’s incredible. There have been over a million real estate transactions, it’s an absolute record.
All this money is going into the pockets of the private sector. All this feeds the housing crisis, increases housing prices and increases the number of evictions, in a context of impunity for private donors. Because the private rental sector is a swamp, everyone does what they want, there are illegal evictions. We must apply the laws that protect tenants, the poorly housed, the homeless because their rights are violated.