Parliament definitively adopted, on Wednesday evening June 14, by a final vote of the Senate, a bill from the presidential majority toughening the penalties against squatters. The senators validated in second reading, without modifications, the version voted by the National Assembly at the beginning of April. The vote on this text, which also speeds up the procedures in the event of unpaid rent, was won by 248 votes against 91, despite a last stand from the left.
The Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, defended a “balanced wording, because it reinforces the rights of owners without calling into question the protection of occupants in good faith”. The bill “aiming to protect housing against illegal occupation” by deputy Guillaume Kasbarian (Renaissance) has been in the works since the end of 2022, following several highly publicized housing squat cases.
“The squat is a violation of privacy and we want it to be repressed without weakness,” said Dominique Estrosi-Sassone; Senator Les Républicains (LR) is the author of a bill to guarantee real estate against squatting, which the Senate adopted in early 2021.
An “automatic termination clause”
The Kasbarian bill triples the penalties for squatters – up to three years in prison and a €45,000 fine. According to an addition by the senators at first reading, the judge will no longer be able to grant delays to squatters whose eviction has been judicially ordered. A new offense is also created, punishing with a fine of 3,750 euros propaganda or advertising in favor of methods encouraging the invasion of a home.
The bill also speeds up procedures in the event of unpaid rent. In particular, lease contracts systematically provide for an “automatic termination clause”. Activating this clause will allow a landlord to obtain the termination of the lease without having to take legal action and, thus, to be able to obtain an eviction more quickly.
Finally, an article from the Senate aimed “to balance the text by strengthening social support for tenants in difficulty” was retained by the deputies.
“A risk of social bomb”
But the text remains unacceptable for the left and associations fighting against poor housing. In the Senate, the group CRCE, with a communist majority, unsuccessfully defended a motion to reject the text en bloc, “a real criminalization of poverty” according to Pascal Savoldelli, “an offensive against tenants and against the most deprived” for Marie- Noelle Lienemann.
The Right to Housing association had called for a late afternoon rally in front of the Luxembourg Palace, under the slogan “Housing is not a crime, it’s a right!” In its annual report, the Abbé-Pierre Foundation estimated the number of homeless people in France at 330,000; 30,000 more than the previous year. In addition, the number of households applying for social housing – at 2.42 million – has never been so high.
“Applying this text to the letter could double the number of homeless people,” said environmental senator from Bouches-du-Rhône Guy Benarroche, citing Secours Catholique. For the socialist Denis Bouad (Gard), the bill “seems symbolic of a certain blindness to the housing crisis”.
The Minister for Housing, Olivier Klein, recently conceded that there was “a risk of a social bomb” linked to the violent crisis in the sector. “This bill was never intended to solve the housing crisis in our country, but it does help fight abuse, those who take advantage of the system and rip off the little people,” he said. in the Senate.
The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced several measures in early June to try to stem the crisis, without convincing. The general delegate of the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, Christophe Robert, spoke of a feeling of “hangover” after six months of work by the National Council for Refoundation on housing.