Housing in overseas departments and regions

The overseas departments and regions (DROMs) face specific housing constraints: a rare and expensive building land because of their geography, higher construction costs than in the metropolis and rapid and heterogeneous demographic changes making planning more complex. Despite the efforts made in recent years, notably through the first overseas housing plan (PLOM) adopted in 2015, private and public actors appear to be struggling to meet demand — including social and very social rental housing — and to improve housing conditions for ultramarine residents. The housing stock in the DROMs has 775 000 dwellings per 2,152,000 inhabitants, of which only 155,000 social housing units. Between 2002 and 2017, it benefited from cumulated State funding in grants and tax expenditures, exceeding EUR 3.6 billion. The Court calls for a profound rethink of the intervention mechanisms available to the public authorities and to refocus them, in the context of the second PLOM, on the reality of local situations and the needs of the people.