Social housing: surveillance cameras soon to be compulsory in HLM?

A member of the Republican Right group recently tabled a bill aimed at making a video protection system compulsory for social housing.

Capital Video: Social housing: soon mandatory surveillance cameras in HLM?

This is a proposal that is bound to spark controversy. The deputy for the second constituency of Aube Valérie Bazin-Malgras (Republican right) tabled, in mid-September, a bill in the National Assembly aimed at making a video protection system compulsory in the common areas of social housing. “The obligation to install a video protection device in the halls and car parks of social housing buildings is justified by a need for security for the beneficiary residents and for the protection of common property financed by the Nation.», justifies Valérie Bazin-Malgras in the explanatory statement of the proposed law. “Video surveillance can deter potential criminals, providing greater peace of mind to beneficiaries and managers of these assets”she adds.

Furthermore, for the right-wing MP, “securing the halls, common areas and car parks of social housing is a new priority to add to social buildings“. According to her, video surveillance could help preserve this heritage by avoiding damage and acts of vandalism, which would make it possible to maintain decent living conditions for residents or reduce the cost of maintaining municipalities.

Valerie Bazin-Malgras therefore proposes that buildings containing several low-rent dwellings include a video protection system in indoor and outdoor common areas, a system which will be put in place by social landlords. The MP suggests financing this measure by an increase in the overall operating grant paid by the State to local authorities present on the boards of directors of social landlords. “In the event of an incident, video recordings can provide crucial evidence for police investigations.she adds.

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PPLs which concern HLM are increasing

It remains to be seen whether this bill has a chance of being voted on in the National Assembly. The parliamentary group of Valérie Bazin-Malgras, namely the Republican Right, is very far from being a majority in the National Assembly since it only has 41 members and 6 relatives. The MP will therefore need the support of at least one of the main groups in the Assembly, namely the presidential coalition (166 deputies) or the National Rally and its allies (142 deputies) to have a chance of seeing her proposal of law adopted.

Note that several parliamentarians have also recently tabled proposed laws concerning the HLM sector. This is particularly the case of MP Jean-Luc Warsmann (Libertés, Independent) who last week filed a PPL aimed at ensuring that the immediate proximity of a family member’s place of work is a priority criterion for the allocation of social housing. “In many jurisdictions, a couple needs two cars to get to work. My objective, with this bill, is that one of the members of the couple no longer needs their car to go to work,” the MP explained to Capital. Last June, the government advocated a bill which provides for the automatic termination of the lease after two years for tenants who own property allowing them to find accommodation outside of social housing. A measure which scandalized the actors of the social housingof which the general director of the Social Union for Housing (USH), Marianne Louis.