Tool for monitoring housing

The Condominium Monitoring and Observation tool enhances knowledge about condominium housing by tracking negative developments, and identifying which buildings require targeted interventions. By assessing multiple criteria, such as building condition, socio-economic profiles of owners, and financial management, the tool assigns a score to each condominium, which is displayed on a web interface for location and data collection purposes. 

Although this tool is recommended by the national government, municipalities are not required to use it. However, Garges-lès-Gonesse has adopted it to better target interventions and provide tailored solutions for struggling condominiums. The city’s specific strategy focuses on: 

• Prevention: Actions to prevent condominium deterioration and to raise awareness about good maintenance practices. 

• Incentive support: Offering financial aid and incentives to encourage owners to undertake renovations and maintain their properties in good condition. 

• Reinforced support: Stronger interventions in severely deteriorated condominiums, including coercive measures if necessary, to ensure decent and safe housing for all residents. 

By improving the energy efficiency of buildings, reducing costs for residents, and enhancing social cohesion, Garges-lès-Gonesse’s good practice significantly contributes to the implementation of an integrated approach to improving large private housing complexes. This centres on the use of  the Condominium Monitoring and Observation (VOC) tool, to deliver effective interventions on multiple fronts. 

• Environmental: The practice focuses on energy efficiency, including thermally insulating buildings to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.  

• Economic: The practice emphasises cost reductions, by connecting condominiums to an urban district heating network powered entirely by renewable and recovered energies, thereby offering stable energy tariffs. The VOC tool mobilises public funding and technical assistance for substandard condominiums, facilitating renovation and maintenance projects.  

• Social: The initiative enhances quality-of-life by renovating buildings, and creating more comfortable and healthier living conditions for residents. Social cohesion is reinforced through resident involvement in the renovation process, by promoting community participation and engagement. 

Condominium owners are at the heart of the participatory process of the Condominium Monitoring and Observation (VOC). They are consulted and informed at every stage, including during initial assessments, through public meetings and consultations that gather their concerns, suggestions, and specific needs. 

The condominium owners also play a decisive role in the decision-making process, and vote on proposed renovation projects. They are involved in the co-construction of a shared action plan, taking into account their financial capacities and priorities. 

Partners of the VOC, and more broadly the city's housing policy, include stakeholders such as funders (national, regional, departmental), property managers, interim administrators, decentralised state services, and other public entities (CAF, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, etc.) or private entities (construction companies, consulting firms, lawyers, etc.). Strategic partnerships help mobilise funding for renovation and urban development projects. 

Collaborative work with property managers ensures the smooth coordination and implementation of interventions, while decentralised state services provide regulatory and technical expertise to ensure compliance with necessary administrative procedures. 

Garges-lès-Gonesse’s initiative brings together residents, property owners, and institutional and financial partners, to create a model of participatory urban governance that other European cities can adapt to address their own urban challenges. The practice demonstrates how coordinated policies can transform the urban landscape and provide a better and more equitable living environment.  

This approach aligns with the EU Territorial Agenda, by promoting sustainable resource use.  The VOC tool identifies and addresses poor housing conditions, thereby improving residents' quality-of-life and enhancing social inclusion, a key objective of the Urban Agenda for the EU. 

The good practice aligns with national governance and legislation on housing and urban renewal in France, which facilitates its transfer to other French cities. It provides a proven model, with suitable financial and regulatory mechanisms, that could be replicated on a national scale. 

Garges-lès-Gonesse shares its practices with other municipalities, particularly cities in Île-de-France and other regions with substandard housing problems. Exchanges have been established with Toulouse Métropole, Argenteuil, Sarcelles, EPT Terre d'Envol, and other cities seeking to benefit from Garges-lès-Gonesse's experiences in these areas. 

It can also be modified to adapt to the contexts of other European countries. By adapting legal and financial frameworks, and considering the socio-economic and environmental context of each city, the approach could be effectively replicated across Europe. 

Key success factors: 

• Strong political commitment. 

• Going beyond diagnostics, to use the tool for targeted interventions to improve condominiums. 

• Training municipal staff with the necessary skills to understand the issues, apply regulations, and support interventions. 

• Engaging with condominium owners to involve them in technical, financial, and regulatory aspects.