Health and safety in the home

For several years, Montpellier has been waging a determined battle against sleep merchants, the private landlords who rent out substandard housing at abusive prices.

Today, the fight against housing continues to target abusive landlords in order to improve housing conditions for the most vulnerable residents.

The fight against substandard housing in Montpellier is accompanied by the introduction of the Permis de louer, a scheme designed to regulate rentals in certain Celleneuve and Figuerolles neighborhoods to ensure that housing complies with health and safety standards.

Reminder: the owner of a rental property, located in a collective or individual residential building built before 1949, is obliged to have a lead exposure risk report carried out. In the event of the presence of degraded lead-containing coatings in the dwelling, the landlord must carry out the appropriate work to eliminate lead exposure without delay, and before the premises are occupied.

Slum clearance in Montpellier is part of a policy to combat substandard housing and improve living conditions for residents. One example of this action is the rehousing of Celleneuve shantytown residents in a transitional village set up in the Rauze district.

Between December 2021 and April 2022, the Metropole undertook development work, co-financed by the European ERDF fund, to prepare a plot of land intended to temporarily accommodate these families. As a result, in April 2022, 165 shantytown residents moved into this Transition Village.

The project, in partnership with the associations Coallia and 2ChosesLune, aims to offer families comprehensive support: access to rights, professional integration and schooling for children. The aim of this personalized support is to enable residents to eventually gain access to permanent housing and greater social inclusion.