In 2004, the number of applicants for social housing in Paris was slightly higher than the previous year: 102,750 households registered in 2004, i.e. +1.8%.
This increase results mainly from the sharp rise in applications from non-Parisian households. They represented 17% of applicants in 2004 and their number has more than doubled since 1992, increasing from 8,600 to 17,400. Overall, this can be linked to the development of the housing market. The continuing rise, in 2004, of rents in the private sector and prices of apartments in Paris (+4.2% and +14.2% respectively), impacted on the demand for social housing.
In 2004, as in previous years, the number of applicants on the housing list increased considerably and the changes observed in applicants' profiles over the previous ten years continued. Demand remained increasingly more social and less family oriented. Due to their low incomes, 71% of applicants were below the ceilings of the PLAI -Prêts locatifs aidés d’intégration –( social housing provided by associations receiving government-funded loans, memo of 13th December 2004) compared to 69% in 2003. Single people represented nearly 40% and there was an increasing number of single-parent families. Therefore a considerable gap existed between the relatively low demand for intermediary housing -PLI-(Prêt Locatif Intérmédiaire where rents are higher than social housing but below market rates) and available intermediary social housing in the sector.
The activity report of the Allocation Commission set up by the Mayor of Paris shows that housing units allocated in 2004 were given in priority to low-income households, people with no housing, City of Paris employees, couples and small families, single-parent families, young households and overall, to Parisians.