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ANSWERS from LYON to the QUESTIONS of GRANADA
(The information hereafter is global for the whole country : France)

Question 1 : (Two options : to BUY, or to RENT a PLACE to LIVE ?)
What was the evolution in your country, since 1950, in favour of rented and owned apartments or houses where you want to live, and which factors might explain the decision?

In 1950

• After World War II : period of reconstruction.
• Financial means are limited.
• Rentals are costly and regulated (Law in 1948 classifies flats in categories; introduces complex criteria => "corrected surface" and "equipment" (bathroom, WC, etc.); is strongly in favour of sedentary occupancy => people deciding to stay in the same place).
• Inflation becomes very significant.

Period 1950-1970

• The demand for housing is strong, and more particularly in favour of "houses".
• It is not more expensive to buy than to rent.
• It is the "boom" of the construction, with :
• the dispersal of the "family group" and a significant evolution in the way of life,
• a yearly inflation above 10%,
• the creation of specific credit institutions, extending loans for housing ( "Crédit Foncier", "Comptoir des Entrepreneurs", etc.),
• Governmental measures in favour of ownership (purchase of flats and houses) :
• Interests of loans deductible from taxable incomes,
• Several types of premium : " PAP " ( support for acquisition of housing), etc.

Period 1970-2000

• The economic and social turnovers lead to extended professional freedom and mobility.
• The choice between "purchasing or renting" becomes a normal option for the new "nomads of work".
• Interest rates shrink.
• Fiscal obstacles linked to purchase of "own housing" are removed. It becomes even possible to buy "HLM flats" (Low rental flats, with premium extended by the Government).
• The demand of houses stays at a high level.
• The improvement of traffic and transportation facilities incentives to leave the expensive centres of cities and to move to periferic suburbs, where the additional housing expenses are lower and the environment is more quiet and peaceful.
• The children leave in the parental home much longer time, due to unemployment.

Testimony of Mr. Guy Vattepin :

"Modification of my professional activity leaded to resettle in a new place"

"My professional activity took place mainly in a centre of research based in the suburbs of Paris. In 1968 the service in which I was working was transferred to Lyon, which forced me to sell the small apartment where I was living with my family, in the outskirts of Paris.
During the first two years of our life in Lyon we lived in an apartment rented by my employer. At the end of these two years, I bought an apartment, much larger than that one that we had previously in Paris, because of important differences in price between Paris and Lyon.
Nowadays, in view of my retirement, we decided to replace the apartment by a house located in a peaceful suburb of Lyon.

Testimony of Mrs. Martine Wattiez :

"A serious illness has imposed to change our living place"

" I am affected by a multiple sclerosis for 15 years. That disease, incurable today, has affected the left part of my body and is characterised by a difficulty in moving around, as well as in seizing objects with my left hand. As an example, the car which I use to drive is equipped with an automatic clutch, it is compulsory. I live at present in an apartment located in the first floor of a building with elevator. But this building presents two inconveniences: one reaches it by two series of steps (12 in total), and the parking is outside the building, which difficult for me to move around, in particular the days of strong wind.
For all these reasons, I have decided to sell this apartment and to buy another one in a modern building, where they are no steps to enter in the lobby, and where the
garage is located in the first underground level, accessible by an elevator.
This is an example, where a disease leads to change drastically the way of living" .

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