Côte d’Azur Habitat is the leading social housing provider in the Alpes-Maritimes department, with the mission to develop the rental offer in the department. Nice is significantly behind in the availability of social housing compared to the criteria established by law: 11.9% against 20%, which will become 25% with the new law. However, the situation is even more severe in the department, particularly in certain towns such as Cagnes-sur-Mer or Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat.
Managed by a board of directors with 23 members, including its chairwoman Dominique Estrosi-Sassone, who is also responsible for housing and social affairs in Nice and the Metropolis, Côte d’Azur Habitat is the largest social housing provider in the Nice region, with 21,128 accommodations, of which 13,999 are in Nice and 7,129 are in the department (2011 figures).
It is therefore a key component of any social policy, and its proper functioning is essential to address a largely unmet need (over 7,000 pending requests).
Since October 2006, the Office transitioned from a status of an administrative public establishment to that of an industrial and commercial public establishment. Then, in 2007, its legal structure was again modified, changing from a public development and construction office to a public housing office.
Paul Cuturello, a socialist municipal councilor and member of the board of this office, expresses some doubts about the proper functioning of the allocation procedures managed by a commission, chaired by Ms. Sassone herself.
Based on the conclusions of a report by the Interdepartmental Mission for Social Housing Inspection, which identifies a lack of “objective allocation criteria and a rational process for candidate selection,” resulting in the possibility of “leading the Housing Allocation Commission to discretionary allocations.”
This is especially concerning when ensuring equitable treatment of each file is essential, except for exceptions.
The socialist representative requested on March 12th that these recommendations be integrated into the operating regulations of said commission. Having not received a response to this request to date, despite the establishment of a working group that should have ruled on this issue, Paul Cuturello decided to write to the Prefect (last December 7) to draw attention to this delicate management aspect.
And, with some figures to support his claims: In 2011, there were 8,920 cases, of which 2,575 were submitted to the Allocation Commission for 1,055 allocations: “given the significant gap between each of the three figures, how can one deliberate without a regulation that clearly and transparently sets the criteria to reach a decision?” wonders the socialist municipal councilor.
“This anomaly persists in a curious manner, and I am not so naïve: who benefits from this opacity? And why leave doubts when it would be so simple to address them with exemplary conduct? Is there a desire to maintain control over a chapter so important for the lives of many families?
Of course, I do not want to talk about infraction, but the behavior of the managers should not give rise to doubts,” concluded Paul Cuturello.
Alongside him, Patrick Allemand, president of the opposition group Changer d’Ere at the Nice Municipal Council, was even more outspoken: “We have the will to resolve these problems using, if necessary, all legal and political means.”
Thus, even the management of social housing is turning sour in Nice and becomes another point of contention between the outgoing majority and its opposition: With everything viewed through the political prism, the election campaign has truly begun!!!
