HLM (Housing)

HLM (pronounced [aʃ ɛl ɛm]) is the acronym of Habitation à Loyer Modéré ("rent-controlled housing"), a form of private or public housing in France, and also in Switzerland.

HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France. There are approximately four million such residences, housing an estimated 10 million people. The standard of living in the HLM housing projects is often the lowest in the country.

72% of HLMs built before 2001 (and 95% of those built between 2001 and 2011) are small buildings or individual houses. The average size of buildings is 20 apartments. Construction of HLM is mainly financed by funds collected on Livret A, a type of savings account regulated by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations. In 2011, the French people have placed 280 billion euros on this type of savings account.

HLM should not be confused with public housing in France; many HLM organizations are completely private, although many are also public.

The HLM system was created in 1950 in response to France's postwar housing crisis. The low level of construction during and between the two world wars, the rural exodus that had started to take place in France (directed mainly at Île-de-France, the Paris region) and the baby boom, contributed to a deficit of an estimated four million residences. Eugène Claudius-Petit, the Minister for Reconstruction and Urbanisation, promoted a scheme of massive construction of socially subsidised residences to address this problem. The new system took its foundations from the HBM (habitation à bon marché – "inexpensive housing") system, which had been created in 1889 and financed mainly by charitable sources rather than the state.

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