The Nice metropolis is actively working on the housing issue. The SRU law, building elevation, and rent control are at the heart of the debate.
In terms of housing, the azure metropolis claims to pursue a “proactive and diversified policy since 2008 on the territory to maintain a diverse and quality production.”
Indeed, one of the points most frequently raised by Christian Estrosi has been the goal of achieving social diversity. In this endeavor, between 2020 and 2022, the metropolis subsidized social housing to the tune of 14 million euros.
Between 2020 and 2022, Nice authorized 3,499 collective housing units, including 1,170 social housing units, or 33.4%, while the catch-up target was set at 11,034 social rental housing units.
The SRU law “outdated” for Christian Estrosi
Despite this expressed commitment to supporting social housing, Christian Estrosi is very critical of the SRU law. This law imposes a requirement on certain municipalities, depending on their size, to have a certain number of social housing units.
Nice must have at least 25% social housing. In 2021 and 2022, the city of Nice paid penalties of 400,000 euros and 1.8 million euros respectively because it did not meet this rate. In 2023, the penalty was neutralized thanks to the aids granted to social landlords of 6 million euros in 2021 and from lower land values.
“It is not by imposing out-of-context quotas and without taking into account the particularities of the territories that we will find solutions to the housing crisis,” declares the Nice mayor about this law, which he also describes as “outdated.”
He believes that this law takes “the problem backward” by making mayors “adversaries instead of making them its first partners.”
On the other hand, the mayor of Nice supports the idea of continuing what has been done in the Moulins district, for example, that is, the demolition and renovation of old buildings to diversify the offer and introduce social diversity.
A city leveling up
The city of Nice is experiencing significant growth and thus plans to increase its housing supply. This Monday, December 11, in a press conference, it presented a project of building elevation that would allow the city to accommodate 61,600 potential new homes.
The goal is to optimize the existing real estate through an elevation program that will cover 5,000 buildings. This elevation would be possible on 2 levels maximum, allowing an increase of 300 m2 more on the two added levels.
According to the studies conducted, the project would cost 265 million euros for the overall renovation of private housing and 260 million euros for the energy renovation.
Rent control under study
Five days after the press conference given by the citizen left coalition Viva! which advocated for rent control in Nice, Christian Estrosi is considering this idea. Until now, the municipality has always shown opposition to this measure.
“Even though I see that this measure does not address the issue of housing creation, it does not solve the problems of unoccupied housing or seasonal rentals […] I have nonetheless requested a report on this issue,” he declared.
The mayor of Nice specifies: “A workshop as part of the development of the 4th Local Housing Program will bring together the housing stakeholders concerned on this topic. This approach will be supported by the expertise of ADIL 06, which conducts rent observations of our territory.”
David Nakache, president of the Tous Citoyens! association and member of the collective, welcomes this announcement: “It is very good news for all those who cannot find suitable housing: it is urgent to put a stop to the soaring rents.”
