“After several months of research, we ended up accepting a two-room apartment without light and extremely noisy”

2023-05-10 11:00:07

Paying rent and finding accommodation are becoming an increasingly widespread source of anxiety, even among French people with a stable income. Some are no longer able to relocate because of the level of prices and administrative complications. Like Kheira (who wished to remain anonymous, like all the witnesses), 31, who shares an 18 square meter studio with her sister in the metropolis of Lyon. His situation has been going on for five years.

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Divorced, the young woman came from the North to find a job in the Lyon region. Employed in IT, she earns a monthly salary of 1,300 euros, on a permanent contract. Despite a stable and permanent income, Kheira is unable to find an affordable apartment, within a perimeter reasonably close to her job, located in the 9^e district of Lyon. “In the advertisements of the private sector, the apartment of 30 square meters costs at least 700 euros per month. The agencies ask me for guarantors and a deposit of three times the amount of the rent, it’s impossible for me”she testifies.

Failing to find a solution in the private sector, the young woman activated the enforceable right to housing, asserting the criteria of accommodation by a relative. She had to wait four months for validation, and nine months for a proposal for social housing: a studio located in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon (Rhône). “It’s an hour’s drive from my job. I know that a single person has very little chance of finding accommodation, if I don’t take it I will be expelled for a year. I have to accept, even if I know that I will not be happy about it”, says Kheira. By reassuring: “I will have a roof, I will search more quietly. »

“It’s quite violent”

This feeling of resignation is shared in Paris by Anne, 62 years old. With her retired husband, this public service executive wanted to leave accommodation at 14^e arrondissement, “left dormant by its owner”. A two-room apartment located at 6^e stage, “approaching 40°C” the summer. The couple wanted another, more livable living environment.

“After several months of research, visiting places that are often improbable, even destitute, for high prices”they have “ended up accepting a 48 square meter two-room apartment without light and extremely noisy, in which he [leur] seems to live with [leurs] neighbors “. Located at 3^e floor without lift, the apartment costs a third of the couple’s income each month. To this must be added the price of water and electricity.

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