The Abbé-Pierre Foundation warns against racial discrimination in social housing

“Different Responses” according to the presumed origin of the applicants, or even “no response at all”. The Abbé-Pierre Foundation alerts, in a study published Tuesday, March 21, on the non-respect of the right to information and racial discrimination in social housing.

To determine whether the registration desks dedicated to social housing applications discriminate, the Foundation took part in an experiment. Two candidates, whose first and last names suggest “for one, a French origin and for the other, a West African origin”sent emails to 1,875 landlords, i.e. nearly two-thirds of official counters in France.

Two observations emerge: on the one hand, only half of the counters respond to requests from bogus candidates, “which raises questions about access to information in the public service and therefore about its quality”, says Pauline Portefaix, in charge of studies at the Foundation. On the other hand, only almost a quarter of box offices (24.2%) “respond positively and in a similar manner to the requests for information of the two candidates”.

Different answers depending on the presumed origin

Among the counters that provide answers to the two candidates, “23.5% formulate differentiated responses to equivalent requests” : a part “directs the two candidates differently, to the detriment of the one presumed to be of African origin”others “support more intensely the presumed candidate of French origin”, and a few “add demotivating information for the alleged candidate of African origin only”.

“Certainly, the phenomenon is not massive”tempers Pauline Portefaix. “These discriminations are in the minority compared to those noted in the private sector, but they are nevertheless significant”she insists. “All forms of discrimination, particularly when it comes to the fundamental right to access housing, are truly unbearable and unacceptable”, reacted to AFP the Minister Delegate for Housing, Olivier Klein.