Seasonal housing: 400,000 workers struggle to find accommodation

Faced with a housing shortage, thousands of seasonal workers struggle to find accommodation each summer, to the point of refusing some contracts. Estimated at 1.5 million in France, 400,000 are looking for accommodation near their workplace. To address this, communities and employers are multiplying local initiatives, from dedicated villages to requisitioned boarding schools.

Seasonal workers are a vital part of the economy during the summer. The Court of Auditors recently estimated their number at 1.5 million, split between tourism and agriculture . But they are finding it increasingly difficult to find housing. According to the Sages, 400,000 of them are looking for accommodation close to their workplace. According to our information, this housing shortage is glaring.

"If we don't offer a roof over our heads, no one responds to our ads," confides a tourism professional in the Médoc. According to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) , 100,000 seasonal workers abandon their contracts each year due to lack of housing.

So how can we solve the problem? Initiatives are springing up all over the country. Municipal campsites have been requisitioned, land has been pre-empted by municipalities... In the Cotentin region, in Barneville-Carteret, a seasonal workers' village has just been inaugurated, with 11 chalets comprising around twenty rooms.

It is the professionals who rent the rooms directly at a lower price than the market price. A project that delights the town's 80 merchants, according to the mayor, who explains that everyone benefits from it: a couple has arrived, one works in a restaurant, the other in a clothing store. This village could lead to offshoots in Pontorson, near Mont-Saint-Michel , in Granville or perhaps in Bagnoles de l'Orne. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a partner in the project, assures that it has been approached by several municipalities.

The Indiscreet: Housing seasonal workers, a real headache - 07/17

Another initiative, this time in Brittany , on the Emerald Coast. The boarding houses of two high schools in Saint-Malo and Dinard are made available to seasonal workers. The cost is between €5 and €14 per night, which is still affordable. The employer pays €2 per day per employee. Ninety people are housed in this way.

In Morbihan, too, school buildings are welcoming seasonal workers. But not before July 10, regrets the president of the local UMIH.

Many professionals are giving up on hiring in an increasingly competitive market where players are doubling their imagination to attract: free public transport, free holidays and even escape games on some farms.