Tours vacant housing partnership with Action Logement, Digi Mart USA News (Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France): On Tuesday, November 2, Tours Mayor Emmanuel Denis, deputy mayor for housing Marie Quinton, and Olivier Racault, president of the Action Logement regional committee, signed a partnership agreement between the City of Tours and Action Logement to jointly tackle vacant housing. The city described the agreement as a national first.
Denis said the city strongly reaffirms every person’s right to shelter, without conditions. He noted that homelessness had doubled between 2012 and 2025, and criticized a promise made by President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 to eradicate homelessness, which he said had not been kept.
The agreement is a new step toward returning to the rental market the 1,500 housing units identified as vacant in Tours. Racault said returning these homes to the market is a collective issue, and that the goal of the partnership is to make housing easier to access in order to support employment.
Action Logement’s primary mission is to help salaried employees access housing.
The city is setting up support to help vacant-property owners return their homes to the market. A owners’ café will be held Saturday, November 7, at Chez Monsieur Henri, 16 rue Bernard Palissy, to answer their questions and help them end the vacancy of their properties.
Quinton said obstacles include costly renovations, complicated administrative procedures and inheritance issues. She also said some properties are left empty for no reason, as a speculative tool.
According to Quinton, some owners contacted by the city have already responded and begun renovation work.
The city has also raised the vacant housing tax to 50%, the maximum allowed, according to the report.
