Among the crowd, signs “Sea view for the precarious” or “What would I do without a roof? “. Four Breton collectives for access to housing demonstrated on Saturday in Douarnenez and Concarneau (Finistere), Vannes (Morbihan) and Lannion (Cotes-d’Armor), to claim the classification of Brittany in a “tense zone”. Between 350, according to the prefecture, and 500 people, according to the organizers, marched through Douarnenez. They were a hundred in Concarneau and around 400 in Vannes, according to the prefectures of Finistère and Morbihan.
“We want the application of the device of tense area to the cities that claim it […] in order to unlock several public levers to produce affordable housing,” explained Maxime Sorin, member of the “Droit à la ville Douarnenez” collective. The classification in “tight zone”, granted by decree, allows municipalities in particular to impose additional taxation on vacant housing and second homes, a regulation of short-term tourist rentals and a framework for rents.
The locals “can no longer follow”
“No municipality in Brittany is placed in a tense zone, it crystallizes the discontent. Elected officials and citizens are helpless in the face of madness real estate speculative. […] Local buyers can no longer follow”, reacted Gaël Roblin, member of the Costa Rican collective “Tregor Argoat Goelo Zone Tendue”.
To explain the phenomenon, this opposition municipal councilor in Guingamp (Côtes-d’Armor) cites the multiplication of second homes, “which accelerated during the Covid”, the moves of residents from Rennes, Nantes and the Paris region, “with significant purchasing power”, as well as the development of short-term rentals. “Coastal employees are therefore pushed very far inland, with excessive travel times,” said Gaël Roblin.
