If you are paying rent or reimbursing a loan and your resources are modest, you can benefit from housing assistance.
Which benefits according to my situation?
You can claim the “Aide personnalisée au logement (APL)” (housing benefit) if you are tenant in a new or old accommodation. This accommodation must have been the subject of an agreement between the owner and the State. This agreement sets especially the rent evolution, the duration of the lease, the maintenance conditions, and the comfort standards.
If you do not benefit from the APL, there are other housing assistance.
You can benefit from the “Allocation de logement à caractère familial (ALF)” (the family housing allowance) if you do not fall under the scope of the APL and you have born or unborn children or dependents. You can also benefit from it even without dependents if you have been in a married household for less than five years. For this, the wedding must have taken place before the forties of each spouse.
If you can not benefit from either the APL or the ALF, there is a third aid, the “l’Allocation de logement à caractère social (ALS)” (housing assistance of social nature).
Where can I estimate my rights and submit my request?
Before submitting your request, go to Caf.fr or Msa.fr if you depend on the agricultural regime. You will be able to make an online simulation. If this simulation is favorable, you can make your request online on the Caf.fr or Msa.fr websites.
The social security funds will then calculate your housing assistance taking into accounts various elements:
- The number of children and other dependents.
- The place of residence
- The amount of the rent or the monthly loan reimbursement (within a certain limit)
- The household financial resources
It should be noted that:
. The calculation of your housing assistance takes account of your resources and those of all the people living under your roof (wages, pensions received, unemployment or sickness compensations, etc.).
. The resources considered during the request are the one from the 12 previous months. Your housing assistance will be recalculated every three months by your Caf or your MSA
. Your parent’s income amount is not to be mentioned.
What types of housing are concerned?
All of them, as long as they are located in France. Your accommodation can be individual or collective. It can be a bare, furnished, sublet, shared, intergenerational rental, hotel or guesthouse, home ownership … It also needs to be in compliance with the surface standards (9 square meters for a person living alone, 16 square meters for a couple and then 9 square meters per additional person) and benefit from minimum comfort: hot water, electricity, heating …
