OPAC of Paris * Situation in France and in Paris

* Opac of Paris

158-162 rue de Saussure (17e)

Situation in France

There are 800 agencies that manage public housing throughout France, 108 of which are Opac (Office Public d’Aménagement et de Construction ) agencies. These agencies manage four million public housing units (i.e., 16% of the number of French primary residences), 90% of all housing apartment buildings. Four million families-i.e., ten million people-live in public housing throughout France (figures/source : Union).

Situation in Paris

Of the 1,160,000 primary residences in Paris, approximately 16% are public housing apartments (source : Aorif). The demand for public housing in Paris structurally exceeds availability. More than 100,000 applications for public housing are pending.

There are two housing markets in Paris : # the public housing market, made up of a continually growing public, ranging from extreme poverty levels to middle income # the open market, which, as a result of the exorbitant prices in Paris, only concerns the well-off population.

Because of the shortage of public housing, people with steady, but modest, income and, in particular, people who make up the city’s population and work there, experience difficulties in living there.

Saint-Denis (93) A Few Features of the Background of Public Housing in France

1. In France, public housing is a public service for which the Government determines the major public policies and provides funding. That public service is handled by public agencies (Opac), private companies (ESH), and cooperatives (SEHM).

For decentralization purposes, the Government may delegate its authority to a local public body.

2. The rights and duties relating to carrying out this public service function are defined by the law. They include :

# The right to remain on the premises

An apartment is granted to an applicant if, on the date that the apartment is granted, his or her income is equal to or less than means-tested limits.

Should the income of a tenant increase over time and exceed such limits, he or she will be entitled to remain in the apartment. A survey, carried out among public housing tenants each year, enables those whose income exceeds the limits to be identified. An additional rental charge is then applied to such individuals, which, in light of the specificity of the Parisian housing rental market, does not appear sufficiently dissuasive to encourage people to move.

# Sharing of risk by HLM entities. These entities are obligated to pay contributions to another entity whose role is to protect the tenant in the event its public housing landlord defaults-particularly financial default.

3. Public housing landlords may also have government-sponsored programs that help tenants buy the property.

Opac of Paris

Opac of Paris was founded in 1912 and it is the largest public housing agency in France.

In its capacity as a public housing agency, it comes under private law accounting and is required to produce balanced financial statements. Nonetheless, it is subject to the Government Contracts Code in terms of organizing competitive tenders.

Opac is an agency of the Government, which controls its management and its management is controlled by the Government. Moreover, it is an instrument of public policy used in Paris. Villiot-Rapée (12e)

Opac of Paris manages more than 100,000 public housing units-that is, 50% of the capital city’s total public housing. It is the no. 1 builder and landlord in Paris.

Opac operates in three areas-housing development, real estate management of the housing developed, and is a stakeholder in development policies for the City of Paris.

# An overview of the Agency

One-third of Opac’s Board of Directors consists of representatives of the City of Paris ; another one-third is made up of representatives of the federal government (designated by the prefect with the approval of the mayor) ; and the final one-third is made up of tenant representatives, and of labor and management. The Chairman of Opac is elected, by requirement.

Opac has 2200 people working for it, 1000 of which are superintendents who live in the public housing themselves and are the first point of contact with tenants. There is one superintendent for every 100 apartments.

In addition to the superintendents, Opac has 700 people directly providing service to tenants in 35 building management districts, which make up Opac’s local units. They are divided into six territories for administrative management purposes.

# The Property Managed

Opac of Paris manages approximately 100,000 apartments for which it is either the owner or holds long-term leases.

Ninety percent of these apartments are located in Paris itself, the rest being located in nearby outskirts. The large majority of these apartments are low-income, with less than ten percent constituting what is referred to as « intermediate » housing, reflecting higher income brackets.

Low-income housing, depending upon the category, rents for between 3 and 5.5 euros per square meter. Intermediate housing rents for between 8 and 9.3 euros per square meter. The square meter in Paris goes in the open market for around 18 to 20 euros, on the average, per square meter.

...........47 rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève(12e) !!!

In addition, Opac manages 3,200 businesses, located on the ground floor of the buildings (commercial businesses, craftsmen, organizations, and public facilities). It also manages 42,000 parking lots, all connected with the buildings.

# The Tenants Living in Opac Housing

Over the last several years, a phenomenon of economic weakening of the tenant population has been observed-77% of that people have income levels at less than 80% of the limit. The yearly income for 43% of the households is less than 10,000 euros per year. Forty percent of the households, for which housing is provided by Opac, receive individual financial aid or financial assistance for housing costs.

Another specific figure concerns the turnover rate in Opac housing facilities, which is very low-in the neighborhood of four percent.

# How Does Opac Fund its Investments ?

A large part of the funding for new investments is public :

# The Government allows access to preferential financing ; # The local government (city of Paris) guarantees loans and may provide additional funding ; # Businesses provide contributions in exchange for the right to have their employees housed in public housing complexes ; # Opac may contribute up to ten to fifteen percent of the funding.

In exchange for these various financial contributions, the Government, local authorities, and businesses hold rights to reserve housing units for rent. In this context, Opac does not have the right of rental on the new buildings. It gets back its rights at the end of the period of repayment.

# How is the Allocation of Housing Handled ?

Opac of Paris has implemented a policy based on a transparent application process. An independent committee made up of the different groups-Opac administrators, tenant representatives, elected officials, and partners-decides on the housing applications.

For each apartment, three applications are recommended. The committee reviews the applications and makes its decision on the basis of urgency, the length of time that the applicant has been waiting, and the applicant’s personal circumstances. It verifies that the apartment is question is appropriate for the family applying.

The committee refers to an allocation chart prepared by Opac which defines the rules and criteria for the granting of housing applications, in accordance with the law.

# How can Public Housing for Paris be Provided ?

The City of Paris has defined as a public policy objective that it will develop 4,000 public housing units per year-1,000 to 1,500 of which shall be developed through Opac.

To achieve that, Opac must diversify its sources of development to include :

# the construction of facilities, whenever possible ; # the acquisition of occupied buildings, recently made possible, allowing Opac to develop public housing in sections of the city where there is still very little-that is, in the central and western sections of Paris ; # acquisition and improvement-the acquisition of run-down buildings in need of substantial structural improvements, undertaken on vacant buildings.

Whenever possible, Opac seeks to even out geographically the location of public housing facilities, which are, at this time, principally concentrated in the northern and eastern sections of Paris.