The parliamentary report on the housing situation of public sector employees, submitted on Wednesday, April 17th to the government by Paris Renaissance deputy David Amiel, does not mince words. The report serves as a wake-up call, urging urgent action to end what is described as an unsustainable situation. The deputy highlights that for too long, there has been a collective ignorance towards the struggles of public sector employees in finding adequate housing, especially considering the stagnant value of the index point used to calculate their salaries between 2010 and 2022.
According to Mr. Amiel, there is a housing crisis in France as a whole, but there is a specific crisis affecting public sector employees who are being treated less favorably than their private sector counterparts due to the lack of an equivalent to Action Logement (the former 1% housing scheme) for public sector employees. This organization provides financial support for housing to low-income employees through contributions from companies. In his report “Housing for Public Sector Workers”, the deputy estimates that private sector employees received between 122 and 162 euros per person in 2023, a 43% to 89% increase compared to the estimated 86 euros for State civil servants.
To address the housing accessibility issues faced by healthcare workers, teachers, and police officers, David Amiel proposes several measures. Immediate actions include opening up the Visale guarantee (free security deposit) to public sector employees over 30 years old under the same conditions as those applied to private sector employees earning less than 1,500 euros net per month or in professional mobility. The report also suggests increasing partnerships between public sector employers and landlords to allocate more intermediate housing to public sector employees, as well as making the subsidized loans offered by employers more attractive.
In the long term, the deputy suggests the creation of an “Action Logement for the public sector”, and launching a program to construct temporary residences for newly transferred public sector employees in areas with housing shortages. These measures aim to alleviate the challenges faced by public sector workers in finding suitable housing and contribute to a more equitable housing situation for all employees. The focus is on providing immediate support through existing resources while also laying the foundation for sustainable solutions in the future.
