Like tenants, donors can be guilty of fraud to housing aid, not respecting the decency criteria of the rented property. The deputy François Jolivet asks to increase the control means of the CNAF. Or delegate this control to others.
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– The payment of the APL to the lessor, who then deduces it from the rent of its tenant, is conditioned on compliance with certain criteria for decency of the accommodation, such as a living area of at least 9 square meters and a ceiling height of at least 2.20 meters.
Approximately 20% of French households benefit from the APL, this Personalized housing assistance which reduces the amount of the rent. The APL invoice for the State reached 17 billion euros in 2024, or 40% of the total public spending in favor of housing. A sufficiently substantial proportion, especially at a time when the country seeks to save 40 billion euros, so that the finance committee of the National Assembly looks at “L’Efficiency of anti-fraud devices of the CNAF (National Family Allowance Fund) »subject to the report presented to him by François Jolivet, deputy horizons of Indre, this Wednesday, July 9.
Despite “A trend drop” the number of controls carried out by the CNAF, that the deputy “Deplore”these “Appear more effective in detecting fraudulent industry”. The 31 million controls carried out by the CNAF in 2024 allowed him to detect 1.68 billion euros in industrial payments Housing aid in 2023, a leap of 24% compared to the previous year. The real, intentional fraud represents 500 million euros out of this total of 1.68 billion, specifies François Jolivet.
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Decency criteria to meet for the payment of APLs
The deputy nevertheless calls for “Intensify efforts”in particular in matters of fraud to the occupation of housing and the concealment of the income of their occupants, who represent near the two thirds of the Frauds at APL. According to him, home controls, intended to verify the existence of undeclared occupants, “Especially within the social park, remain insufficient “. However, a simple neighborhood investigation can help confirm an undeclared suspicion of marital life, when a person claims to live alone to touch the APL when he is in a relationship.
But fraud to housing aid is not due to tenants. The landlords also can be guilty. François Jolivet recalls in this regard that the payment of the APL to the lessor, who then deduces it from the rent of his tenant, is conditioned on compliance with certain criteria for decency of housinglike a living area of at least 9 square meters and a ceiling height of at least 2.20 meters. But also a note of at least F on the diagnosis of energy performance (DPE) since January 1, 2025. However there are owners who pass an agreement with the State so that their tenants benefit from the APLs while their accommodation does not meet the decency criteria, especially on the energy level.
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Increase CNAF’s means or transfer control to other
“Faced with the magnitude of what appears as a fraud of the lessor, the means dedicated to the control of decency and energy performance, a prerequisite for the payment of APLs, are insufficientregrets François Jolivet. Nothing happens in this area, the CNAF having no workforce to carry out these checks! ”. So it seems to him “”urgent to increase the means of the CNAF. Or transmit the completion of these controls to other».
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