An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of

low-income housing Subsidized housing is a subsidy aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing". Forms of subsidies include d ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. It may be

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France.10 idées reçues sur les HLM
, Union sociale pour l'habitat, February 2012 There are approximately four million such residences, housing an estimated 10 million people. The standard of living in the HLM housing projects is often the lowest in the country. 72% of French HLMs built before 2001 (and 95% of those built between 2001 and 2011) are small buildings or individual houses. The average size of buildings is 20 apartments. Construction of HLM is mainly financed by funds collected on Livret A, a type of savings account regulated by the

Caisse des dépôts et consignations Caisse, a French word, may refer to: * Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec * Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Q ...

. In 2011, the French people have placed 280 billion euros on this type of savings account.

History

In the early 1960s, “bidonvilles” housed most low-income immigrants. Bidonvilles were housing developments, commonly referred to as “shanty towns” located in the metropole with little to no running water or utilities. The largest bidonvilles were located in Champigny with the majority population being Portuguese immigrants and a similar number in Nanterre with the majority population being Algerian immigrants. The Movement for France (MPF), which was a political party, pushed for the betterment of living conditions initially stating that social demands such as the need for shelter were basic and thus universal. MPF’s agenda slowly changed from housing being a universal need, to an exclusive right for citizens and the working class. The new HLM buildings improved living conditions; however, social commentaries coined the term Sarcellitis which is used to describe living in a depressing environment. The dramatic change from living in bidonvilles would overlook the unsightly buildings, but the environmental challenges (via police brutally) would soon follow in the coming years within the newly formed HLM communities. The French government hoped that by sheltering low-income populations, it would bring the standard of living up, but it instead stratified a hierarchical system. Surveillance of immigrant groups (in HLMs) were issued by government officials to procure cultural information on immigrant communities so as to better acclimate them into French society. This racially motivated approach was perpetuated by the Fifth Republic officials because they believed the immigrant communities were incapable of living in France. The lack of assimilation was a result of inequality and discrimination thus keeping immigrants in the HLM suburbs. The low level of construction during and between the two

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s, the

rural exodus Rural flight (also known as rural-to-urban migration, rural depopulation, or rural exodus) is the Human migration, migratory pattern of people from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In Industriali ...

that had started to take place in France (directed mainly at

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

, the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

region) and the

baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of births. This demography, demographic phenomenon is usually an ascribed characteristic within the population of a specific nationality, nation or culture. Baby booms are caused by various ...

, contributed to a deficit of an estimated four million residences.

Eugène Claudius-Petit Eugène Claudius-Petit (1907–1989) was a French politician. He participated in many governments under the Fourth Republic and was a proponent of Firminy Vert. He later added his pseudonym from the Resistance, "Claudius", to his name. Earl ...

, the Minister for Reconstruction and Urbanisation, promoted a scheme of massive construction of socially subsidised residences to address this problem. The new system took its foundations from the HBM (' – "inexpensive housing") system, which had been created in 1889 and financed mainly by charitable sources rather than the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. The level of social construction did not significantly rise until minister Pierre Courant launched an ambitious plan in 1956, warranted by the increased rate of

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

from France's former

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

. Courant's plan had the goal of construction of at least 240,000 residences each year, and it was an unexpected success: from 1956 on, there were more than 300,000 new residences built annually, with a good number of them HLM. In 1964, there were 95,000 new HLM apartments. The residences were often constructed in large complexes, by ' ("the way of the crane"). The new, large apartment buildings were perfectly rectangular, to allow a crane to roll along a track and place components on both sides of the building simultaneously, saving both time and effort. The greatest increase in the number of HLMs came in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when many

planned communities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, or ZUP (': "priority urbanisation zones") were constructed. They were built mostly in the suburbs of

. A total of 195 ZUP were created, producing over two million new, mostly HLM, residences. The emphasis shifted to improving the standard of living in the residences already in existence. In 1968, for example, only 41% of the HLM apartments had toilet and sanitary facilities. By the end of the 1970s, the figure had risen to about 80%. New HLM sites, with more rooms per residence, were built in smaller cities and towns, and numerous programmes were launched to combat

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

and

delinquency Delinquent may refer to: * Delinquent (royalist), Royalists whose estates had been seized during the English Civil War * A juvenile delinquent Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful b ...

in ZUP communities. In 2001, each HLM residence had, on average, 2.4 persons living in it (compared to 3.2 in 1954), four rooms (three in 1954), and 96% of all HLM apartments had toilet and sanitary facilities, compared to only 10% in 1954.

Statistics

References

External links

'
at ''Cour des Comptes'' (in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hlm Welfare in France Public housing Residential buildings in France

History

Statistics

See also

References

External links