Apply for social housing (HLM) - To live in the provinces

Verified 01 janvier 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Your situation

  • You want housing in the provinces
  • You want to make your case fully online
  • You're French
  • None of the people to be accommodated has a mobility-inclusion-disability card
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A simulator is available:

Know if you are eligible for social housing

Maximum amount

To obtain a dwelling, the total annual income of persons to be housed may not exceed a maximum amount.

The annual income is the reference tax income of year n-2, which is recorded on the tax notice for year n-1. For a housing application made in 2025, these are reference tax revenue for 2023, listed on the 2024 tax assessment.

The persons to be housed are the following:

  • Yourself (applicant)
  • Your co-applicant : Civil partnerships' or cohabiting spouse or partner, or a member of your family who is not dependent on you (only among these: grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson, brother, sister)
  • People and children figurative on your tax notice or that of your co-applicant. These include children with disabilities of all ages, children under the age of 21 (including alternating care if declared at the home of each parent), students under the age of 25, and persons with a disability-inclusive mobility card (or disability card).
  • Children rights of access and accommodation

FYI  

The roommate shall not be counted in the persons to be housed.

The maximum amount depends on your situation:

1 person to stay

Total revenues for 2023 must not exceed €30,161

2 people to stay
Tableau - Maximum income for social housing in the provinces

Person Types

Maximum total 2023 annual revenues

2 people

€40,279

Young couple

€48,437

1 person alone with 1 dependent

€48,437

3 people to stay
Tableau - Maximum income for social housing in the provinces

Person Types

Maximum total 2023 annual revenues

3 people

€48,437

1 person alone with 2 dependants

€58,477

4 people to stay
Tableau - Maximum income for social housing in the provinces

Person Types

Maximum total 2023 annual revenues

4 people

€58,477

1 person alone with 3 dependants

€68,790

5 people to stay
Tableau - Maximum income for social housing in the provinces

Person Types

Maximum total 2023 annual revenues

5 people

€68,790

1 person alone with 4 dependants

€77,527

6 or more people to stay
Tableau - Maximum income for social housing in the provinces

Number of persons

Maximum total 2023 annual revenues

6 people

€77,527

Per additional person

+ €8,648

FYI  

If your income exceeds these amounts, another social housing can be offered to you, called FOLD housing.

Exceptions to the maximum amount

Your income can be valued differently, in some cases:

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Your revenues have gone down

If your current revenues have decreased by at least 10% compared to year n-2, it is possible that your income in year n-1 or that of the last 12 months is taken into account. To do this, you must provide documents proving the decline in your revenues. An attestation on honor drawn up by yourself is not allowed.

Example :

You apply in 2025 and your current revenues are lower than those of 2023. If the decrease is at least 10%, so it is possible that your 2024 income or that of the 12 months preceding your application for social housing will be taken into account.

You no longer live with the person you filed your taxes with

If you apply in 2025 and your 2024 tax notice includes your income and that of the person you were living with in pairs in 2023, it is possible that only your income will be taken into account. To do this, you must be in one of the following situations:

  • You're going through a divorce. You must then provide 1 of the following documents:
    • Non-Conciliation Order
    • Copy of the document referring the matter to the family court
    • Proof from a lawyer that the procedure for divorce by mutual consent is ongoing
    • Decision of the judge or protection order issued by the family court judge (in case of emergency).
  • You're divorced. You must then provide the divorce decree or, in the case of divorce by mutual consent, the approved agreement.
  • Your Civil partnerships is broken. You must then provide the birth certificate marked Civil partnerships dissolved.
  • Your husband passed away. You must then provide a copy of the death certificate or family record book.
  • You are a victim of violence in your relationship, attested by the receipt of a complaint
  • You are married, a beneficiary of international protection and you live alone in France

Your Civil partnership or partner is hosted in Ehpad

If your spouse or partner Civil partnerships is hosted in a Ehpad, the accommodation costs which you pay may be deducted from your income.

To help you choose between the different municipalities, you can use this tool:

Social housing: key figures for each municipality

FYI  

For the city of Lyon or Marseille, you can ask for 1 or more boroughs, or indicate the whole city.

You must make one application file per department

To obtain accommodation, you must make an application by department (except for the Île-de-France region).

For example, if you want a home in Aurillac (department 15) or Kourou (department 973) or Laon (department 02), you need to make 3 application files.

Reminder

For accommodation in Lyon or Marseille, you can ask for 1 or more districts, or indicate the whole city.

You must indicate all the people who will live in the accommodation:
  • Yourself (applicant)
  • Your co-applicant : Civil partnerships' or cohabiting spouse or partner, or a member of your family who is not dependent on you (only among these: grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson, brother, sister)
  • People and children figurative on your tax notice or that of your co-applicant. These include children with disabilities of all ages, children under the age of 21 (including alternating care if declared at the home of each parent), students under the age of 25, and persons with a disability-inclusive mobility card (or disability card).
  • Children rights of access and accommodation

If you want to live with someone else whereas these, you will live together in the apartment in shared accommodation.

Your roommates may be:

  • family members (only from your cousin, cousin, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece)
  • or people who don't belong to your family (friends, co-workers...).

You must specify your roommates on your application for social housing. In addition, each of them has to apply for social housing, where all the other roommates are indicated.

You can make your application on the internet or with the form to be filed on site

You must log in to the online application site:

Applying for social housing online (and renewing)

You must at least provide the following documents:

  • Scan your ID card (front/back) or passport
  • If you are under guardianship or curatorship, scan of guardianship or curatorship judgment

You can be helped by phone to make your case online:

Who shall I contact

  • Applying for social housing online: getting help

    By telephone

    0 806 000 113 (price of a local call from a fixed station)

    Open Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm

    This support cannot inform you about the status of a current social housing application

It depends on how you deal with your case. Indeed, your request can be accepted or refused:

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If your application is accepted (validated)

You receive the certificate of registration of your request.

This attestation is proof that your file is accepted.

It shall indicate in particular the following information:

  • Unique national number of your application (it certifies that your application has been taken into account and that it has been in effect for a long time)
  • The date of your request. It is the starting point for calculating your waiting period and the deadline for renewing your application if no accommodation has been offered in the meantime.
  • List of landlords with housing in the communes that you requested
  • When you can enter the mediation commission, with the commission's address and the date from which you can enter it
  • Duration of validity of your request, how to update and renew it,
  • Cases where your application may be canceled
  • How to know progress of your request

It shall be accompanied by an annex containing the following information:

  • Summary of your request and next steps for its processing
  • Supporting documents to be provided when your application is processed, which must be submitted when the application is being examined, and additional supporting documents which the instructing department may request

Upon receipt of the certificate of registration :

  • You can make your case enforceable right to housing (Dalo) to obtain social housing more quickly, if you are in certain situations.
  • You must update your file in case of a change of address, the number of people to be accommodated, their income, the type of accommodation requested... For this, you must either use the website, or fill in again a form by entering the national unique number of your application and file in a register window.
  • Each social landlord can contact you to offer you accommodation that corresponds to your request.

Within 11 months of the date of registration of your application, you must renew your request. If you don't, your request will be deleted (deleted).

After an abnormally long waiting periodHowever, if you have not received a proposal for social housing, you can submit your enforceable right to housing.

If your application is rejected (invalidated)

If your file is rejected, you will be informed of the reason for the rejection.

You can make the necessary changes to your file and submit a new application file.

The waiting time for social housing varies depending on the department requested. For each department, it is possible to know the abnormally long waiting time to obtain social housing.

The waiting time before a room is offered to you varies greatly. It depends in particular on the following:

  • Your personal situation (for example, the request of a person with a disability, poorly housed, without housing, threatened with eviction or victim of violence is a priority)
  • The type of accommodation (number of rooms, whether shared or not...) and the municipality requested. You can consult the number of social housing units for each municipality.

As soon as your application is accepted, each social landlord can contact you to offer you accommodation corresponding to your request.

To verify that your application meets your needs, the employer may ask you to provide supporting documents, including proof of the identity and income of the persons to be housed:

Identity document or residence permit

For each of the people who will live in the housing, you must provide an identity document or a residence permit.

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French

For an adult, you must provide a copy of the identity card (double-sided) or the passport.

For a minor, a copy of the family record or birth certificate must be provided.

FYI  

in the case of guardianship or guardianship, a copy of the guardianship or guardianship judgment must also be provided.

European (European Union, EEA, Switzerland)

For an adult from another Member State of the EU or the EEA,, or a Swiss adult, a copy of the identity card (double-sided) or passport must be provided.

For a minor, a copy of the family record or birth certificate must be provided.

FYI  

in the case of guardianship or guardianship, a copy of the guardianship or guardianship judgment must also be provided.

Other nationality

For an adult, a copy of one of the following documents is required:

  • Resident card (or renewal application receipt)
  • Permanent Resident Card (or Renewal Application Receipt)-
  • Resident card bearing the words long-term resident - EU (or renewal application receipt)-
  • Multi-year residence card (or renewal application receipt)
  • "Talent passport" residence card (or renewal application receipt)
  • Temporary residence card (or renewal application receipt)
  • Certificate of residence of an Algerian national (or receipt of request for renewal)
  • Receipt of application for a residence permit constituting a residence permit bearing the words "recognized as a refugee" or "granted subsidiary protection" or "beneficiary of subsidiary protection"
  • Receipt of application for a residence card issued to spouses of refugees or beneficiaries of subsidiary protection who have arrived under the family reunification procedure
  • Certificate of extension of investigation of an application for renewal of a residence permit, or certificate of a favorable decision on an application for renewal of a residence permit
  • Residence permit issued to an Andorran national
  • Monegasque passport bearing a mention of the Consul General of France in Monaco as a residence permit
  • Long-stay visa
  • Temporary residence permit
  • Temporary residence permit marked "beneficiary of temporary protection".

For a minor, a copy of the family record or birth certificate must be provided.

FYI  

in the case of guardianship or guardianship, a copy of the guardianship or guardianship judgment must also be provided.

Annual revenue

For each person who are going to live in the dwelling, you have to provide proof of income.

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You have a 2023 Income Tax Notice (or equivalent document)

General case

French tax notice for the year 2024 must be provided, indicating the reference tax income for the year 2023.

If income was received abroad in 2023, the 2024 Income Tax Notice issued abroad must be provided.

FYI  

Documents written in a foreign language must be translated into French and revenues must be converted into euros.

You want only your income to be taken into account

If you want only your income to be considered, while the tax notice includes your income and that of your Civil partnership or partner, you must add a justification, depending on your situation:

  • Domestic violence: receipt of complaint
  • Death of the Civil partnership or partner: death certificate or family record book
  • Divorce proceedings: copy of the act of referral to the family court or, in the case of divorce by mutual consent, proof from a lawyer that the proceedings are ongoing, or, in case of urgency, the decision of the family court
  • Divorce: judgment of divorce or of the approved agreement in the case of divorce by mutual consent
  • Separation of a past couple: receipt of registration of the declaration of rupture to the registrar or to the instrumental notary
  • Civil partnership rupture: mention of the rupture in the birth certificate.
Your revenues have decreased by at least 10%

If your current revenues are lower at least 10% the amount indicated on the tax notice to be provided, you can request that your taxable income for the last calendar year or your taxable income for the last 12 months before the date of signing the lease be taken into account.

To do so, you must provide proof of proof. These may be, for example, pay slips, the certificate of the company's accountant assessing the monthly salary received or any accounting document usually provided to the administration, the social security bulletin indicating the daily allowances...

Warning  

An attestation on honor is not accepted.

You don't have one

You can't get this document

You can provide a certificate from another competent authority for the same year or, if necessary, from your employer.

You don't have to file an income tax return

Proof of the revenues received in the last 12 months must be provided.

These may be, for example, pay slips, the certificate of the company's accountant assessing the monthly salary received or any accounting document usually provided to the administration, the social security bulletin indicating the daily allowances...

Warning  

An attestation on honor is not accepted.

French who returned to France in a situation of destitution

A copy of the declaration of indigence issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be provided.

Holder of international protection
Who is it?
  • The holder of international protection (refugee, beneficiary of subsidiary protection, stateless person) granted by theOfpra or the NDA,
  • Or of the holder of the provisional residence authorization bearing the words "beneficiary of temporary protection".
What are the resources to justify?

You have to justify resources collected after entering France. This date shall appear on the receipt recognizing international protection, or on the residence card, or on the temporary residence card, or on the temporary residence document.

What evidence should be provided?

The holder of subsidiary protection shall provide the decision of theOfpra or the NDA concerning him.

Proof of income received during the last 12 months or, if necessary, since entry into France must be provided.

Warning  

An attestation on honor is not accepted.

Applicant recently arrived in France

If he cannot provide a French tax notice or an equivalent document, he must provide proof of the income received since the last 12 months or, if necessary, since entry into France. Documents written in a foreign language must be translated into French.

Warning  

An attestation on honor is not accepted.

Other supporting documents

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Family situation

Depending on your situation, the lessor may ask:

  • Married: family record book or equivalent document demonstrating marriage
  • In the event of divorce: either a copy of the document referring the matter to the family court or in the event of divorce by mutual consent, proof from a lawyer that the proceedings are ongoing,
  • Divorced: Divorce judgment or agreement approved in the case of divorce by mutual consent
  • Past: Certificate of registration of the Civil partnerships
  • Rupture of Civil partnerships : mention of rupture in birth certificate
  • Pregnancy: A medical pregnancy certificate attesting to the pregnancy
  • Early minor or adult under 21 years of age who is cared for by theAse (up to 3 years after the last day of such care): certificate from the departmental council or extract from a judicial decision establishing the use of theAse
  • Application for family reunification: certificate of application in the case of family reunification
  • Family violence: The emergency situation must be documented by a protection order from the family judge or a receipt from the victim's complaint, or by a social worker or an association.

Health, disability, loss of independence

  • Disability and loss of autonomy: either mobility card inclusion invalidity or invalidity card for permanent holders, or decision to award a right or benefit by a committee on the rights and autonomy of disabled persons, or decision to award an invalidity pension by a social security body, or decision to award the right or benefitApa
  • Health problem: medical certificate.

Occupation or education

For each person who lives in the dwelling, the landlord can ask:

  • Employee: salary slips for the last 3 months or employer's attestation
  • Self-employed: the last balance sheet or certificate issued by the company's accountant assessing the monthly salary received or any accounting document usually provided to the administration
  • Retirement or invalidity pension: notification of pension
  • Return-to-work assistance allowance: notice of payment
  • Daily allowances: social security bulletin
  • Apprentice: employment contract
  • Student: student card
  • Return to work after a period of long-term unemployment: job-seeker card or status certificate and any document attesting to the resumption of work
  • Maternity or family assistant (occupation of applicant or spouse): accreditation
  • Volunteer fire brigade: certification by the head of the communal, intercommunal or departmental corps.
  • Reconciliation of the workplace: evidence of the location of the current or future job
  • Occupational transfer: attestation from the current or future employer.

Monthly income

For each person who lives in the dwelling, the landlord can ask:

  • Last Tax Notice (if available)
  • Employee: salary slips for the last 3 months or employer's attestation
  • Self-employed: the last balance sheet or certificate issued by the company's accountant assessing the monthly salary received or any accounting document usually provided to the administration
  • Retirement or invalidity pension: notification of pension
  • Return-to-work assistance allowance: notice of payment
  • Daily allowances: social security bulletin
  • Maintenance payments received: Excerpt of judgment or other document demonstrating receipt of the maintenance
  • Social and family benefits (AAH, RSA, family allowances, childcare benefit, activity premium, daily parental attendance allowance, AEEH, family supplement, family support allowance, Aspa...): certification of the Caf or the MSA
  • Scholarship student: award notice.

Current housing

For each person who goes to live in the dwelling, the landlord can request a document attesting to his or her situation:

  • Tenant: Lease and rent receipt or, if not, a statement from the landlord that the tenant is up to date with his rents and charges
  • Accommodation with parents or children, or with an individual: attestation from the person hosting, a social worker, an association
  • Accommodated either in an accommodation structure, a hostel, a social hotel residence, a therapeutic co-ordination apartment, a university or student residence or in the case of official accommodation, in particular a certificate from the manager or employer indicating the end of the supply of accommodation
  • Campsite, hotel: either received, or certified by a social worker or association, or certificate of domicile
  • Homelessness, makeshift dwellings, slum: either a certificate from a social worker or an association, or a certificate of domicile
  • Owner: deed of ownership, financing plan
  • Accommodation indecent : either a document drawn up by a public service, a social worker, a construction professional or an association, or photographs, or a copy of the judgment of a court ruling on the indecency of the dwelling, or a certificate of the Caf/MSAor another document showing the indecency of housing
  • Undignified housing, i.e. housing that is unsuitable for the dwelling, housing that is over-occupied because of the dwelling, hazardous because of the use, unsanitary premises with or without imminent danger, presence of lead, safety risk in an establishment receiving accommodation from the public for total or partial use, building threatening ruin, risk to the safety of common equipment in a collective residential building.
    This situation must be attested either by an administrative decision (by order of the prefect, mayor or president of theEPCI, formal notice or administrative closure), either a judgment of the court or a certificate of the Caf/MSA, or any other document drawn up by a public service, social worker, construction professional or an association showing the situation of indignity, or photographs.
  • Housing taken over or offered for sale by its owner: letter of leave from the owner or judgment ordering the termination lease
  • Housing at too high a cost: rent receipt or other document showing the expenses allocated to housing
  • Eviction proceedings: command to pay, or summons to appear, or judgment pronouncing the eviction, or command to leave the premises
  • Entering the property in difficulty: either a debt relief plan, or ongoing procedures attested by a social worker or association, or another document demonstrating the difficulties.

Heritage

For each of the persons who will live in the dwelling, the landlord may request a declaration of honor concerning the assets to estimate the amount of future housing assistance (APL, ALF, ALS).

Each may use the following model of honor certificate:

Attestation on honor

For each available dwelling, the landlord selects several applications for social housing.

It is a committee that decides on the allocation of housing according to the applicant's situation (disability, domestic violence, disadvantaged people...) and the age of his application.

If the commission decides to award you the accommodation, you can:

  • Either accept the accommodation and sign a lease
  • Or refuse housing. In this case, your request for accommodation remains valid until its date of renewal.

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

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      For more information on this topic, you can contact Allô Service Public.

      Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.

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