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French rally to protest housing crisis

Saturday, 02 January 2021 11:29 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 03 January 2021 12:09 AM ]

Chris Den Hond

Press TV, Paris

In France the New Year starts in freezing cold with 300,000 persons homeless or living in poor housing conditions.

In the same period, 3 millions buildings, houses or apartments are empty. Homeless and poorly housed people, many of them undocumented workers, demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Housing, asking the French government to implement the requisition law.

The official French national institute for statistics and economic studies INSEE calculated that the current rate of empty accommodation is a record in the history of France. This hotel in the rich area in Paris has been empty for years. With 10 other friends, Damien has been occupying the hotel for 5 months now. The squatters did not wait for French officials to apply the requisition law. They occupy the place and everything is organized by themselves.

To rent an apartment in Paris costs easily 1000 euros a month. Almost as much as the monthly minimum salary. The demonstrators marched in front of huge empty buildings as this one on Quai Voltaire, downtown Paris. The owners believe that the value of these buildings increases more by leaving them empty than by renting the space to people.

Last time the requisition law was implemented was 25 years ago. Apparently the French government prefers to please the real estate lobby, rather than to solve the housing crisis.

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