Although housing accounts for approximately 27% of greenhouse gas emissions in France, Action Logement has just announced a major plan to accelerate the energy transition of its activities.
“We assumed our responsibilities at the time of the health crisis and we were prepared to face the energy crisis,” says Bruno Arcadipane, president of Action Logement, recalling the deployment of a CSR program for its 19,000 employees. It is this first step that would have allowed Action Logement to vote last March on its 70,000 million plan presented this Tuesday, November 29, as the “project of the century” in terms of decarbonizing housing.
It’s not about deconstructing
“We are already building 40,000 homes a year”, continues Bruno Arcadipane. “I grant you, it may not seem like enough, but it is by far [ce qui fait d’Action Logement] the main European producer. But, what happens with dilapidated houses and considered to this day as true energy sieves?
“We are not going to deconstruct but to improve all the existing heritage,” he specifies. “New construction and rehabilitation techniques” will be used to ensure that a third of the housing stock meets the BBC label (note, low energy building).
Fears related to the funding of Action Logement
This Monday, September 26, the new financing bill for 2023 presented in the Council of Ministers provided for a drain of 300 million euros in Acción Logement (in favor of the National Stone Aid Fund). This casts doubt on the donor’s ability to finance their projects.
Bruno Arcadipane responds that this measure has been withdrawn for the moment by the Senate from the State finance bill for 2023 and will be studied by a joint joint commission. Rather, mention is made of the support of Action Cœur de Ville, which has made it possible to “revitalize the center of medium-sized cities” but also that of the National Agency for Urban Renewal (ANRU) for the construction of new homes in priority neighborhoods.
However, the puncture in the debate arouses strong reactions from the Action Logement social agents, who believe that it is not up to the social owners to bear the burden of financing the construction and rehabilitation of homes. Faced with rising homeowner and tenant fees, Bruno Arcadipane presents his decarbonization plan as a long-term way to save money.
100,000 applications for social housing per day
Are these efforts enough when there are still 2.2 million social housing applications pending in France?
“It’s dramatic,” laments Bruno Arcadipane. “In the last ten months, 100,000 more people have registered in this file [de demande de logement social].” For him, it is in the mayors that the State should focus its attention by giving them back “the desire to issue building permits.”
Emphasis is also placed on the social utility of Action Logement dedicated to “caring for the most disadvantaged” in the face of energy poverty. In late October, the organization announced an Energy Fund to support social housing tenants in the face of rising energy prices.
Source: BFM TV
