In the midst of a housing crisis, he wishes to have a more precise vision of the situation. Housing Minister Olivier Klein set up a “Homelessness Observatory” on Tuesday with ociations, representatives of elected officials and the State, to improve the census of homeless people in order to facilitate their care.
It appears “necessary to improve the care of homeless people and facilitate their orientation to have precise figures which also make it possible to support the partnership work carried out by the State, communities and ociations”, indicates the Ministry of Housing in a release.
This observatory brings together ociations such as the Abbé Pierre Foundation, the Secours Catholique or the Aurore ociation, ociations of elected officials and representatives of State services. The Minister of Housing, former mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), asked the observatory to “publish updated figures at regular intervals” and to prepare for winter 2023-24.
440,000 homeless people have accessed housing since 2018
The homeless – people who live in the streets, tents, parks or woods, places of public transport, camps – number just under 5,000 (2,600 in Paris), according to a census carried out in 29 cities in January 2022 as part of the Nuits de la Solidarité. In addition, 12,000 EU nationals lived in “slums” as of December 31, 2022 in metropolitan France, according to figures from the interministerial delegation for accommodation and access to housing for homeless or poorly housed people. (Dihal). Figures far removed from those of the Foundation Abbe Pierre. In its 2021 annual reportshe estimated the number of homeless people in France at nearly 300,000.
In addition, 205,000 general accommodation places (emergency accommodation, hotels, etc.) are open, at an overall cost of 6 million euros per night, according to the Ministry of Housing. And 115,000 places were open in specific centers for asylum seekers, as of December 31, 2022, according to figures from Dihal.
26,500 displaced people from Ukraine, beneficiaries of temporary protection, occupied 8,600 state-provided housing, as of 31 December 2022. The Housing First plan, launched in 2017, which makes direct access to housing a priority for the reintegration of homeless people, has enabled 440,000 homeless people to access housing between 2018 and 2022, including 105,000 in 2022, according to figures from Dihal.
141,332 people who are homeless or from accommodation centers received social housing between 2017 and 2022, including 28,042 in 2022, she adds.