A/HRC/43/43/Add.2 households.11 Fuel poverty increased between 2002 and 2013, reaching a rate of 20.4 per cent of all households.12 20. The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned about housing affordability. Between 2007 and 2017, housing costs for poor households adjusted in line with inflation increased by 33.3 per cent, posing a serious burden, particularly for those without access to social housing. Low-income households renting in the private market already spend over 40 per cent of their income on housing.13 A total of 16.8 per cent of poor households faced rent arrears or mortgage arrears in 2017.14 21. In contrast, housing costs for the most affluent have increased only marginally. A total of 85 per cent of the richest quarter of society live in a dwelling that they own, and less than half pay mortgages. Those homeowners that have already paid their mortgage spend only 6.7 per cent of their income on housing and are thus able to accumulate further wealth. 15 In turn, despite the long tradition of social housing in France, homeownership has become a leading determinant of inequality. C. Social housing and housing benefit 22. Social housing in France is not targeted solely at the lowest-income earners. It has been estimated that one in every two citizens has lived in social housing at some point in their life. In 2018, 18 per cent of the population lived in social housing, provided by 550 social housing organizations. Since 2000, municipalities with more than 3,500 inhabitants are legally obliged to ensure that at least 25 per cent of all housing stock is social housing.16 This obligation, however, is often ignored by municipalities because the fine for non-compliance is low. To remedy this, the Government raised the penalty in 2013, with limited success. 23. One third of households living in social housing have an income below the official poverty line, and single-parent families are overrepresented. Approximately 33 per cent of the social housing stock is located in 1,300 urban policy priority areas (quartiers prioritaires de la politique de la ville). These areas are identified by their concentration of low-income households, as measured by the census. 24. Social housing rents are 40 per cent lower than on the private market, creating high demand as private housing has become increasingly unaffordable. In 2017, there were over 2 million requests open for social housing. An applicant spent an average of nearly two years on a waiting list before receiving a housing unit, although waiting times varied drastically by region: in Paris, the average was 40 months. 17 25. Sixty-six per cent of applicants for social housing fall into the lowest income category, making them eligible only for units designated for low-income households. However, only 4 per cent of total units are designated as such.18 The Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact that the Government has increased the construction of social housing units for the most marginalized to 32,727 units in 2018. While an important step, this increase will still not meet the current demand. 26. The shortage of social housing units for the most disadvantaged is undermining the act establishing the enforceable right to housing. Of the 950,000 applicants since the act came into force on 1 January 2008, 270,000 households have been identified as priority cases in terms of access to housing. As at 20 February 2019, 167,200 households (62 per cent) had been assigned a social housing unit, while 62,900 households (38 per cent) still needed to be 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 6 Ibid., p. 145. Environment and Energy Management Agency, La précarité énergétique à la lumière de l’Enquête National Logement 2013: synthèse (Angers, 2016), pp. 4–5. National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, Les conditions du logement, p. 161. The phrase “low-income households” refers to the lowest-income quarter of all households. Fondation Abbé Pierre and European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless, Fourth Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2019 (Paris and Brussels, 2019), p. 68. National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, Les conditions du logement, p. 161. See Act No. 2000-1208 of 13 December 2000. Fondation Abbé Pierre, L’état du mal-logement en France 2019 (Paris, 2019), p. 217. Information provided to the Special Rapporteur by the National Consultative Commission for Human Rights.