Social hotels: homeless people are being asked to leave their rooms for tourists

The health crisis is ending, social hotels want to find their tourists again. In the Paris region, more than 56,000 homeless people are housed in private hotels. During the Covid epidemic, many establishments made their rooms available to SAMU social, to continue to collect revenue. But the tourists are returning and Paris is preparing to host the Olympic Games. The establishments then choose to break their agreement to return to their usual activities. A return to square one for families who had fixed housing and had been able to enroll their children in local school, find work nearby and create social ties.

Hotels that used to serve as social housing want to get back to business as the Olympics approach

In the Paris region, 56,000 people live in social hotels, in rooms assigned on a more or less long-term basis by the social SAMU. Every day, 115 receives between 1,500 and 2,000 calls a day and can only accommodate around 15% of these emergency requests, as revealed Mediapart. The already critical situation is deteriorating, as more and more families who previously had accommodation in temporary social hotels are being asked to leave for the night.

During the Covid crisis, many establishments converted to social assistance so as not to have to go out of business.. Subsidized by the state, these hotels have stipulated agreements for the reception of families in difficulty. However, the resumption of tourist activities would have led many of these structures to put an end to these agreements in order to regain the usual tourist clientele.

This phenomenon will surely increase with the approach of the Olympic Games which will take place in the summer of 2024, while the capital prepares to organize the biggest sporting event in its history, and to receive even more tourists than usual. . In 2022, the social media SAMU has already accused the loss of 2,400 hotel rooms. That is, 2,400 families invited to leave the premises.

Emergency accommodation in the hotel, the flawed idea of ​​the public authorities

Since 2010, the government has focused on emergency accommodation in private hotels, rather than creating long-term solutions. In return, these establishments receive around 18 euros per occupant, an amount that cannot compete with the rates in force in the private sector.

This policy endangers the 300,000 people, including 2,000 children, who currently live without a fixed address in France. Hotels can break their agreement at any time to engage in activities deemed more profitable, at the expense of families who have been occupying rooms for months or years. When the ax falls, these families are moved according to availability, sometimes very far from the place of work, from the children’s school, from loved ones. At the risk of losing everything due to lack of logistical means that would allow them to honor appointments and daily imperatives.

Starting all over again in a new receptive city that you will have to leave at any time is impossible. Not to mention that not all municipalities view the reception of these vulnerable people very favorably. Some municipalities voluntarily complicate access to school for children, or means of transport that would allow their families to move freely.

A dignified home is not just a roof, it is a safe and lasting place that allows people to lead their professional and school life serenely and in optimal conditions. Investing in the goodwill of the private sector to solve the emergency housing problem means refusing these already vulnerable families to look to the medium to long-term future.

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