Thesis supervisors: Yoan Miot and Cécile Vignal
In 2023, more than one in twelve homes in France was vacant. Within this stock of 3.1 million unoccupied homes, there is a wide variety of physical, legal, and geographical situations, reflecting a growing, complex, and multifaceted phenomenon. Among these situations, long-term vacancy is of particular concern to urban public policy, as it is seen as a symptom of a dysfunctional local real estate market. Thus, the remobilization of a pool of seemingly unused housing is an objective that serves not only public housing policy, but also public land, development, and ecological transition policy. However, public action remains emerging and unstable. Despite the mobilization of a wide variety of instruments from public housing and habitat policies since the 1990s, public and parapublic actors are faced with the difficult task of effectively combating long-term vacancy. Among the obstacles identified, the difficulty of involving owners appears to be the central issue, as highlighted in both scientific and institutional literature. However, although understanding the motivations of landlords is crucial to supporting the return to use of vacant private housing, little research has been done on this topic. This thesis therefore aims to study the phenomenon of long-term residential vacancy, considered as a process of devaluation of private housing, by examining both public policies and the recipients of the action. While housing is increasingly seen as a commodity, or even an asset, due to the restructuring of the welfare state towards an asset-based welfare regime, how can we explain the growth in long-term vacancy, which varies from region to region, as well as the difficulties in mobilizing owners to bring their properties back into use? Through a comparative study of rural and metropolitan areas, three areas are investigated. First, we question the relationships between owners, vacant housing, and public action, exploring the representations of residential vacancy and owner behavior that structure this emerging public policy. Second, we consider vacancy as a spatially heterogeneous phenomenon, part of a process of valorization and devaluation at the territorial level, influencing the socio-demographic profile of owners, the configurations of residential vacancy, and the potential for reuse. Thirdly, we analyze vacancy by re-inscribing this transitional situation within the residential and patrimonial strategies of owners: the aim is to understand how long-term vacancy questions and reshapes the social logic of property ownership.
Year of enrollment: 2024
Doctoral school: City, Transportation, and Territories – VTT