Decisions concerning town planning and the construction of housing for modest-income families in towns and surrounding areas are the responsibility of the ministry. Its interventions are intended to satisfy the needs for solidarity and regulation of the construction
sector.
The policy led by the Directorate-general of planning, housing and construction (DGUHC), in partnership with the local authorities is designed to allow everyone to have decent housing in an urban environment that caters for all the needs of contemporary life.
Challenges for the future
Social housing represents about one quarter of French investment. Over half of new constructions over the past decade have received state funding support. This gives some measure of the state department of housing's importance as a player in the national
economy.
Large towns and their surrounding areas, whose unfettered development often damages social cohesion, increasingly need to take the rules of sustainable development, environmental protection and heritage conservation into account. The combination of the multiple competences of the ministry during the design phase of an urban construction or renovation project is a guarantee that the expectations of those who live there will be taken into account.
