Landlord Penalized for Prioritizing Affluent Tenants Over those in Need of Social Housing
Going, Going, Haute-de-Seine: Rives de Seine Habitat Fined for Lavish Social Housing Allocations
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Socially Overreaching: The rotund Rives de Seine Habitat, acyclic offspring of three HLM offices in the Hauts-de-Seine department, has faced the big stick, doled out a hefty €1.8 million fine, for various housing misallocation faux pas. The punishment, summoned in April and exposed by the reputable media Batiactu, followed a sharp rap over the knuckles from the National Agency for the Control of Social Housing (Ancols), after thorough investigations of the three public housing offices (OPH) of Courbevoie, Levallois and Puteaux, all bundled into a single entity in 2022.
In their damning reports, Ancols lamented the OPH's lax housing policies, as they flouted the obligation of allocating 25% of housing to the most destitute households yearly. Furthermore, Ancols slammed the OPH of Puteaux for housing 81 units to households whose income surpassed the limits, for neglecting, or improperly applying, the surcharges for tenants whose income exceeded the ceilings, for outlandish irregularities within its housing allocation committee, and for spurning certain rules related to public procurement.
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The OPH of Puteaux was already under the magnifying glass in 2016, dubbed for "irregularities in the rules for allocating and managing social housing" and "a serious management failure" in the arrangement of a parking lot, resulting in a hefty €1 million fine. The Council of State more or less yanked this punishment in 2018, on the grounds that OPHs were beyond the scope of Ancols' jurisdiction.
In a rebuttal to Ancols' 2023 report, Rives de Seine Habitat maintains that "many findings and observations are relics" and that some suggestions are no longer relevant in light of the formation of a new HLM office.
Toodle-oo, Income Caps: The HLM's New Animal Rives de Seine Habitat asserts that "corrective measures have been put in place for rental management," that "most of the remarks and observations made by Ancols will be considered" by the new entity, and dismisses the shortcomings related to public procurement. The Housing Ministry justifies the steep penalty as a consequence of the "gravity and persistence of the oversights," the entity's "financial status," and its "elephantine size."
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Enrichment Data:
- The provided article discusses a fine issued to Rives de Seine Habitat, a social housing provider in the Ile-de-France region, for allocating social housing to affluent households.
- Ancols, the National Agency for the Control of Social Housing, carried out inspections of the three public housing offices that merged to form Rives de Seine Habitat and identified various shortcomings.
- The fine was issued due to Rives de Seine Habitat's failure to comply with the obligation to annually allocate 25% of housing to the most modest households, and issues related to housing allocation policies and tenants surcharges.
- Rives de Seine Habitat disputed some of the findings, claiming that many were obsolete and some recommendations were no longer pertinent. The dispute emphasized the creation of a new HLM office.
- The Ministry of Housing defended the high penalty by pointing to the gravity and recurrence of the infractions, the size and financial condition of Rives de Seine Habitat, and the types of oversights made.
- In 2016, the OPH of Puteaux was reprimanded for irregularities in managing social housing and was fined over €1 million. The Council of State annulled this penalty in 2018, stating that OPHs were not within Ancols' scope of control.
- Rives de Seine Habitat has taken corrective actions to address the issues with rental management, and stated that most of the observations made by Ancols would be implemented by the new entity. The entity also contested the shortcomings related to public procurement.
- The article highlights that the OPH of Puteaux has a history of oversights and management failures regarding social housing allocation and management.
- The hefty fine of €1.8 million imposed on Rives de Seine Habitat includes a financial penalty for misallocating social housing units to affluent households.
- To address these errors, Rives de Seine Habitat claims they have implemented corrective measures for their rental management and will consider most of the observations made by Ancols, focusing on improvements for the new HLM office.
