The enforceable right to housing (Dalo) was introduced in the French Law of 5 March, 2007, and is a last resort for applicants who experience serious difficulties with housing. It requires the State to house or rehouse households recognized as eligible, as a matter of priority and urgency, providing an offer that is “suitable” in the sense of the Law (i.e. meeting a household’s needs and characteristics). Although the State alone bears this responsibility, local authorities, social landlords and the employer-funded organization Action Logement are obliged to help with rehousing. When the State fails to fulfil its obligations, it may be held liable, including liable to pay compensation. The Court of Accounts is today publishing a new assessment of the implementation of this system, which shows that the difficulties it had already identified in 2016, particularly in Île-de-France, have intensified: for too many households, the Dalo is not yet an effective right, and the risk of it becoming a source of disillusionment is increasing. To rectify this, the Court is asking for a change to the legal framework and to the way it is implemented in practice, and is defining thirteen recommendations intended to restore its effectiveness.
