This note gives the main figures for social housing in Paris. It updates information on the social housing stock and how it is developing, as well as the demand for housing.
On January 1, 2014, there were 214,469 units of SRU social housing, comprising 18.5% of principal residences in Paris. The official number of social housing units for January 1, 2015 is not yet available, but it should be close to 221,337 units, (19.1% of main residences) if the 6,868 units delivered in 2014 are taken into account. And, if the financed social housing units under construction or being re-developed are added in, this gives a total of 20.5% units.
In 2014, 7,166 new social housing units were financed in Paris. This figure is the highest since 2001. The number of housing units financed a year has grown continuously over the last ten years and, since 2007, more than 6,000 units have been financed every year.
Set against this increase, the already high number of requests for social housing is climbing in comparison with previous years: in 2014, 194,221 households renewed or filed a first application with the City of Paris or other relevant department in Ile-de-France, of which 117,240 were in Paris. The big increase in numbers registered in 2014 can be explained by the fact that changes in the way the demand for housing is managed have made the filing of applications more efficient.
Another new development in 2014: since 3rd October, 2014, the City of Paris has been using a “points system” to allocate housing to prospective tenants from its contingency reserve of housing. In particular, both the Housing Allocation Committee of Paris City Council and the Housing Committees of the 2nd, 10th, 12th, 13th and 18th districts of Paris have started to use the “points system” to prioritise those requests for accommodation which match the rental housing put at their disposal by social landlords.
