Cold in the back: a photographic look at energy precariousness

En résistance, contre le froid

The question of growing household precariousness in the face of energy expenditure, to heat the accommodation and move by individual car, has taken on a real magnitude in the social debate.For INSEE, 5.9 million French households are said to be affected by """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""energy vulnerability"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""", or almost a quarter of households.

The realization of a photographic portrait of energy precariousness is part of the observation of the difficulty in putting a face on these situations.The criteria adopted by public statistics - weight of energy expenditure in the household budget, cold felt in housing - amalgally a wide variety of situations.

Who are households who heated to a comfortable temperature spend an energy deemed excessive in energy?Who lives in the cold, due to """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""unheatable"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" accommodation, or permanent restrictions?What are those who undergo the counter cuts due to unpaid people?

Photographic portraits show the diversity of the features of energy precariousness.The cleaning which faces too heavy invoices, due to an ineffective heating, is ultimately the least common.Many, on the other hand, are the owners occupying dilapidated buildings who do not have the resources to carry out renovations.Many tenants also in degraded accommodation, which owners do not want to improve.This precariousness there, although focused on energy expenditure, in fact refers to the older question of evil housing.Added to this is many situations that fall under strict financial precariousness, in healthy and normally effective housing, giving rise to drastic restriction practices, payment delays, or even gas and electricity cuts forcause of unpaid.

The photographic report documents living conditions marked by very low interior temperatures, humidity and mold that infiltrates everywhere.Life in the cold is seen through signs that are obvious (auxiliary heating as the only heat source, molds on the walls, stopping devices) and others more intangible (life in onePiece, adaptive practices relating to an """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""old -fashioned life"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""", shame leading to withdrawal ...).This report is a dive in the heart of the experience of heat deprivation and thermal discomfort.He wants to enlighten this disturbing question: what is cold at home in France, in the 21st century?What are the reasons and the effects?

Confronting the interiors of these households leads to this observation: thermal comfort is one of the central markers of our lifestyle, whose """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""energy precarious"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" are deprived, due to too heavily constrained financial situations.Entering the home of a precarious energy is to experience very steep living conditions """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""in resistance, against the cold"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""".And it's cold in the back ...

Valérie, 44 ans, mariée, mère de 4 enfants, assistante maternelle en invalidité, propriétaire en Puisaye (Loiret).

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""We bought this house to retype in 2007. L’entreprise qui devait faire nos travaux a déposé le bilan et nous avons tout perdu. Nous sommes restés trois ans dans la maison froide, humide, moisie, pleine de courant d’air, l’électricité et la plomberie sont aléatoires, et c’est envahi de souris… En 2011, on a décidé de s’installer dans un mobil-home sur le terrain. Le froid glacial entre par les sols, il fait 12°C dans la pièce à vivre, 8°C dans nos chambres et les aliments gèlent dans les placards de la cuisine. Le plus dur est de vivre à cinq dans une caravane, cuisiner sur une gazinière restée dans la maison et faire les lessives en ville.Besides, girls dress every day, it's less work.»»»»

Caravan reduced.A muddy path leads to an old rural building whose all the doors and windows have been replaced, with new pvc frames and double glazing.All around, stacks of building materials suggest that the house is under construction.But it is next to it, in a small caravan, that her three daughters live, as well as her road husband when he is there.Everything is narrow and piled up.It does not make more than 15-16 ° C with electric heating, and the expense is nevertheless substantial, of the order of 100 euros per month.

In 2011, they bought this building on a large land.All their savings had to allow its renovation and equipment.But the money of the work was squandered by a local craftsman who chained the poor and made it unlocked.Impossible to live in the house.Installing a caravan on the field was the only alternative.Such a situation is not uncommon.Beyond the scam, of which this family has been the victim, many modest young households buy old rural dwellings that must be renovated entirely.But not being in the profession, they often have unpleasant surprises when they engage the work and their extent, not planned, puts them in the financially dead end.

No longer able to welcome children at home, Valérie has lost her work as an approved maternal assistant.Handicapped by depression, it receives an allowance of 300 euros per month.Her husband has an income of 2,700 euros.Loan monthly payments amounted to 1,200 euros, of which they only pay half, due to the disabled status of the wife.

Of this situation, the local press and regional television channels have been echoing several times.And, from thread by needle, a group of people was formed to help the family.The house renovation site, interrupted by the fraudulent bankruptcy of the craftsman, has taken over, led voluntarily by this group, but also by the association of building companions.A viable project was established by the Soliha-Pact du Loiret association which collects the necessary funds, in particular with the National Housing Improvement Agency.

Finally, the social nets have deployed in all their dimensions - allocation for disability, helps to improve the habitat, ... - and combine with the surge of solidarity of the local society, to allow this family ofemerge from a blocked situation, which is impunity.Despite the trial won by the family, and the condemnation of the craftsman to reimburse the amount of the work, nothing will be recovered financially.

Energy precariousness is, in this case, the fact of owners who although having had the means to acquire a house, ultimately do not have the resources sufficient to make it normally habitable.The difficulty in heating is the first of the consequences: these owners live in the cold so as not to have invoices that are impossible to pay.Because they are already heavily in debt, they are assigned under house arrest in """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""housing evil""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""»».Their depreciated real estate capital does not give them the prospect of reselling, to relocate in better conditions.

Rachida, 55 ans, divorcée, mère de 6 enfants, agent d’entretien en invalidité, propriétaire à Lyon (Rhône).

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""My husband left me in full work with six dependent children, seven years ago. La chaudière au fioul est tombée en panne.The house is cold and humid. La journée, je vais au centre commercial pour trouver un peu de chaleur. J’ai acheté un halogène sur roulettes chez Emmaüs que j'allume le soir quand mes enfants rentrent de l’école.It heats the main room where we sleep together, each on a bench. Il fait 12° le matin quand on sort des couvertures, c'est très dur.»»»»»»

Falling back into a room. Souvent, en demi-saison, il fait plus froid dedans que dehors : Rachida va au centre commercial, ou bien chez sa mère, pour trouver la chaleur.We are at the end of winter, it actually is frankly cold in the living room, between 15 and 16 ° C.She keeps the 6 -month -old baby of her married daughter who lives in HLM.To be sure it is hot, it puts on three sweaters to him.

During the day, she does not heat.In the evening, she turns on the extra heating in the main room where they all sleep, each on a bench.Molds develop on the walls behind the cushions.At night she cuts the device: """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Get out of the blankets in the morning when it is 12 ° in the room is really hard.»»»»»»

Rachida has lived this house in the thirties for 15 years in Pierre Bénite in the suburbs of Lyon.When they moved, she was heated by a fuel oil boiler.But she broke down 7 years ago, when her husband left her, leaving her with six children.The youngest was 6 years old, the eldest 20 years old.She didn't have the money to replace the boiler.She bought halogen extra heating, which she found at Emmaüs.

The house had not been renovated: it has no ventilation or isolated windows.Due to the lack of heating, humidity stagnates inside.Rachida makes aggravated asthma and allergies because of mold. Elle a besoin d’un masque pour ses crises d’asthme : « je dois respirer dans mon masque à oxygène 3 fois par jour»»»»»».Power sockets no longer work, the furniture is damaged.To take a shower, it brings the extra heating to the water room.And she takes the laundry to her daughter or mother she washed, to be able to dry it.

After being an interview agent for years, she is now disabled.Five children still live with her.She has kept a car, but cannot pay insurance and gasoline.Fortunately, for a year, she has finished repaying her house.

She contacted the National Housing Improvement Agency.His subsidy request will succeed.The overall quote to install a gas boiler, VMC and double glazing ventilation, amounts to 18,000 euros.

Corinne, 40 ans, célibataire, mère de 4 enfants, aide à la personne sans emploi, locataire en immeuble à Sète (Hérault).

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Cet appartement est classé indécent, il est humide, les placards, murs, fenêtres et vêtements sont moisis.I touch the RSA, once all my invoices are paid I still have 70 €. Je me prive de chauffage la journée alors qu'il fait 13° dans le salon.Some days, it is colder at home than in the street. Pendant les vacances, ma fille reste dans son lit la journée, sous la couette avec les chats qui lui tiennent chaud.In the evening we sit on the ground, together, under the radiator, it is just16 °.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Victims of real estate agents who screen. Cet après-midi là, il fait 14°C dans l’appartement, un trois pièces de 60m², très haut sous plafond, dans un bel immeuble ancien du centre de Sète.The white walls are naked.The electrical installation is not up to standard and the very poorly insulated accommodation, despite double glazing.Corinne sleeps on a sofa in the small living room.Her two teenagers, 11 and 13 years old, each occupy a room.When it is cold during the winter, adolescents spend most of their time in their bed.The under heating situation promotes interior humidity under windows and walls to the north, and generates the development of molds.Foods are getting spoiled quickly, laundry too.

The energy performance diagnosis established by the GEFOSAT association in Montpellier has allocated the G label, the worst, to this accommodation.From this diagnosis, it appears that to heat at 19 ° C, the annual expenditure would be 2,300 euros.Even with more efficient devices, - there would be radiant panels rather than convectors - the energy expenditure would remain high given the bad insulation of the building.Due to the restrictions it requires, Corinne limited her electricity bill to 1350 euros the previous year.

Corinne lives badly this situation and her children too.The cold, but also the impression that no solution takes shape, makes them all depressed, and not very communicating.It's been two winters that they spend there, and they hope not to spend a third under the same conditions.They would like to leave, find accommodation in Montpellier, even if it means staying in a smaller apartment.But their resources are very limited.His health having deteriorated, Corinne has not worked for three years, and affects active solidarity income.Despite high housing assistance (they ultimately pay only 100 euros in rent), there are only 70 euros per month to live, once deducted the constrained charges (electricity, water, internet to have thetelevision, portable).They feed on pasta and rice.

The apartment is rented by a real estate agency that manages the whole building.The owner is inaccessible, and it is therefore difficult to intervene to convince him to do work that could be funded by the National Housing Improvement Agency.The real estate agency knows the law well and manages to do the minimum.

In a city like Sète, are numerous buildings, very badly isolated, with dilapidated or unsuitable heating systems.Unfortunately, poor energy performance is not one of the criteria used to characterize the indecency of housing.And the associations involved in these situations, such as the Gefosat in Montpellier, cannot afford the owners.The declaration of indecency in principle obliges the latter to improve the state of the accommodation they rent.The CLCV association can be mobilized for mediation between the tenant and the owner.But the outcome is very uncertain.In many cases, it is the tenants who end up moving, and the accommodation is rejected in a state that remains unchanged.

Gérard, 67 ans, célibataire, agriculteur retraité, sa soeur, Maryse, 63 ans, célibataire, aide familiale retraitée, propriétaires à Pithiviers (Loiret)

""""""""""""""""Our mother gave birth to eight children in this house. Nous sommes restés ici avec elle toute notre vie.She died 4 years ago and had never wanted to do development work. Les radiateurs électriques ne fonctionnent pas, je m’en sers pour poser mes plantes vertes. Les toilettes et la douche sont dehors dans des cabanes.We use a room pot at night so as not to go out. L’hiver, le vendredi soir après la vaisselle, on se lave à l'évier, chacun son tour.»»»»»»

La vie figée « à l’ancienne»»»»»».

Leur mère avait coutume de dire : « ça a toujours été comme ça, ça ira bien comme ça»»»»»».Gérard and Maryse are brother and sister, of a siblings of eight children.They live in the family farm with which they have resumed fermenting, Gérard as an operator, Maryse as a family aid.The 50 m² accommodation is made up of a room that cooks and dining room, and two bedrooms.The interior has not changed since the father's disappearance in 1961. Mais depuis le décès de la mère en 2011, Gérard et Maryse accèdent enfin à l’idée de moderniser la partie d’habitation de la ferme : « ici, c’est comme au début du siècle !»»»»»» [du XXème], « nous, on voudrait bien un peu de propreté»»»»»». Gérard s’est arrêté d’exploiter à 58 ans, avant l’âge officiel de la retraite, car, dit-il, « je n’en pouvais plus»»»»»».In reality, the exploitation was no longer profitable: in recent years, they had to amputate their savings to pay the charges, without freeing income.

Their living conditions are from another time: no bathroom, no interior wc, no sanitation.They always use, in the garden, the hut on the ease pit.A brother -in -law installed a shower to them in an old chicken coop. Pour se doucher, ils transportent de la maison un petit radiateur électrique : « mais on ne peut pas l’utiliser en même temps que l’on tire l’eau chaude du cumulus, ça fait sauter les plombs»»»»»».It's for Maryse.Gérard washes him in the kitchen.Electric convectors have not operated for a long time, Maryse uses them as supports for her green plants.

To heat up, there is the fireplace, as well as a fuel stove next to the stove. Ils jugent les deux systèmes nécessaires, « parce que c’est humide par là»»»»»».The stove works with gas bottles.In this old house which has never been renovated, the energy expenditure is high for such a small surface: 340 euros of wood (for 8 stars), 750 euros in fuel oil (700 liters), and 500 euros in electricity for theCumulus, the freezer, the refrigerator and the television, a total of 1600 euros per year.Added to this is the expenses of the car, essential to make the refueling once a week in Pithiviers, and the coming and coming.Or around 1200 euros per year of fuel and 600 euros in insurance.Their retirement income amounts to 850 euros per month for him, 380 euros for her, or 1230 euros for their household.Energy expenses (135 euros per month for the house, in smoothed over the year, and 150 euros per month for the car) represent 19% of their income.

Gérard and Maryse were precarious energy long before we were concerned about this question: they suffered unwelling, living out of the standards of contemporary comfort, which they are well aware.A neighbor told them about the aid of the Better Living Program of the National Housing Improvement Agency.They can claim it given their income and energy expenses.For them, the important thing will be to be able to finally access comfort, much more than to save energy.The renovation project is substantial: to connect the house for the town's sanitation, create interior sanitary facilities and a bathroom, modernize the heating system, improve insulation, install ventilation.

Guillaume, 50 ans, célibataire, sans emploi, vit dans un squat (Ile-de-France).

""""""""""""""""I have never been so cold in my whole life since I lived this squat.Yet I organize myself. J'ai installé dans la grande pièce un poêle à bois mais celui-ci s'éteint la nuit et c'est glacial au réveil. Alors pour dormir, j'ai monté une tente que je recouvre de tissus, j'ai un radiateur électrique à l'intérieur. Je dors avec un bonnet, des collants, des chaussettes, une combinaison thermolactyl et je glisse des bouteilles d'eau chaude dans le lit.The cold arrives by the feet because of the cement on the ground.In the morning is the thermal shock when I get up to make my coffee and take my shower.»»»»»»

The tent to spend the winter in the squat.

At the beginning of winter, the tent rose, inside the room. C’est le """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""point chaud"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" du logement. Par grand froid, elle est couverte de tissus qui isolent, et elle prend alors des allures de """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""yourte"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""".

Guillaume has lived for five years in a disused industrial building, where he occupies a 60m² tray.All kinds of people live this place, rather tough.An association went up to manage the safety of the place and in particular the general electrical counter.This is a crucial issue: it is necessary to prevent the counter from being cut by EDF, otherwise it will not be restored.It is therefore necessary to collect the money necessary to pay the monthly invoice which, given the large number of occupants, is several thousand euros.Everyone must pay according to the surface they use, nearly 200 euros per month for Guillaume.He lives with the RSA and considers that he has no problem of money, even if he has no financial reserve.Anything that furnishes its interior is recovery, or has been purchased at very low prices.

It brought five stars of wood in early winter, at 60 euros per stère.It also uses an electric convector.In the evening, it connects the electric radiator inside the tent.From then on, it is hot enough to work on the computer.He makes hot water bottles with coca bottles.He happened to use heated blankets, but he prefers to avoid because it is not good for health.Likewise, he refuses to come to the oil stove due to the emanations.He sleeps with tights, socks, and a thermolactyl combination.And during the day, he wears large shoes with thick soles to keep your feet hot.

Two years ago, Guillaume was severely sick, his angina did not pass, he was afraid for his health.Since then, he avoids staying at his house during the day, and goes to the library, or in cafes.Winter, when he returns home at the end of the day, he settles directly under the tent.Because launching the stove and waiting for it to warm up its large room is too long.

The police consider the place as an area of non -law.But it is nevertheless recognized as an address.The town hall tolerates the squat because it actually provides free guarding of the place, while waiting for the demolition project not.The squat is a solution full of uncertainties.It is enough that the electric meter is cut so that it ceases to be habitable.Guillaume thinks of leaving the place.He has friends who have been settled on the millevaches set in old buildings that don't cost anything.But then again, you have to know how to organize yourself.Without sun, it is quickly cold.

Guillaume is at the limits of energy precariousness as defined by the statistical indicators.Technically, it is one of those households which cannot normally heat their accommodation and restrict themselves on energy for lack of financial resources.But the squat, such as the slum or other forms of makeshift habitat, is outside the field of housing that is married to public aid.Guillaume experiences precarious housing, and not just energy precariousness.

Raymonde, 59 ans, sans emploi, son mari, René 62 ans, retraité, mariés et un fils de 28 ans à charge, locataire en HLM à Lens (Nord).

""""""""""""""""GDF cut off the gas two years ago. Nous avons un seul convecteur électrique dans l'appartement que l'on déplace au besoin. Le matin, nous chauffons l’eau à la casserole sur les plaques électriques de la cuisine pour se laver à la salle de bain.We no longer take a shower, it's too complicated. Nous avons des dettes, ma machine à laver est en panne depuis trois ans, je lave le linge à la main. On se restreint tous les jours : le frigo est vide, comme un frigo de démonstration chez Darty.We get used to everything except the idea of finding ourselves on the street.»»»»»»

Only the electric convector is underway, everything else has died out. Dans un coin du salon, le convecteur électrique est le seul indice qui signale que Raymonde, René et leur fils de 28 ans ne vivent pas """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""comme tout le monde"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""".We do not immediately notice this convector, as the three -room apartment, in an HLM located in the suburbs of a city in the North, has all the apparent attributes of domestic comfort.

Curtains with windows, cushions on the sofa, and the vase of flowers on the living room console are signs of domestic investment, desire to be well at home.But these signs are very quickly denied.First by a sensation, that exhale the naked walls, of Spartan rigor. Ensuite par le constat qui émerge peu à peu que l'appartement est entièrement """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""à l'arrêt"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""".Almost none of the devices there work.The lights are extinguished and the washing machine, out of use, has not been replaced.Radiators and gas stoves do not work either.However, they have substitutes: an electric convector which heats up sparingly, and an electric stove with two plates to cook.The refrigerator is the only device that escapes the drastic restriction of the current to which Raymonde and René engage in.But he's almost empty.

Prisoners of debt accumulated by a cascade of reverse, the couple and the great son tighten their elbows.This adversity unfortunately isolated them.Raymonde prefers to hide the truth of his situation from his family and not show them his living conditions.Two years ago, GDF cut the arrival of gas from the apartment due to unpaid.They have forced themselves to do with: more heating or hot water, more gas stove.Besides these objects frozen in non-use, reflexes and practices of yesteryear have resurfaced: toilet with sink with a pan of heated water on the stove, daily laundry washing in hand, family gathering in thesame room, around the hot spot, while the rooms remain cold.Mobility has also been drastically reduced, failing to have been able to keep a car: all their trips are made on foot. Mais si l'expression """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""vivre à l'ancienne"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""", qui revient souvent dans leur bouche, permet de résumer simplement le quotidien qui est le leur, elle donne surtout une signification implicite à ce qui leur arrive : un grand retour en arrière, comme une chute hors du train de la normalité, qui logiquement emporte chaque génération vers plus d’aisance que la précédente.

For Raymonde and René, the question is not the defective nature of the heating system, even less the lack of insulation, but the inability to pay the bills.The official criterion of energy precariousness, having amounts of invoices weighing more than 10% of the budget, is particularly inoperative here.Because the restriction is permanent, and is not limited to electricity.The coupé meter, which stops all daily life, resonates both as a residential assignment between walls that have become uncomfortable, and as a warning: the next step, if we can no longer ensure rent, it's the street, a real anxiety for this couple.

Fatima, 60 ans, mariée, mère au foyer, 4 enfants dont deux handicapés, propriétaire d’un pavillon à Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine)

« Les convecteurs électriques sont d'origine, ils ont 34 ans… des """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""grille-pains"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" dont on ne se sert plus. J’utilise un poêle à pétrole que je déplace de la cuisine au salon. En haut, on utilise un chauffage d’appoint sur le palier pour toutes les chambres. La nuit, j’éteins tout les chauffages jusqu’au petit-déjeuner et fais sécher mon linge par terre. Nous n'avons pas les moyens d'installer le chauffage au gaz, pas de loisir et encore moins de repos.Eating with a jacket is not pleasant.We can deprive ourselves of a Beefsteak but no heating, it is a luxury.»»»»»»

Not enough money to heat up to electric. Le soir, quand tout le monde dort, Fatima étend le linge fraîchement lavé sur le sol.Because for lack of heating, in winter it dries very badly.On the cold of the ground, he would dry faster.

By buying this house in Nanterre, the family did not imagine what would be the amount of the electricity bill. Construite en 1981, elle est équipée de ces radiateurs électriques que l’on a surnommé les « grilles-pain»»»»»», et qui ont fleuri dans les constructions neuves tout au long des années 1970.The first year, all the parts were heated.""""""""""""""""When we received the note, it was horrible, I did not expect that: 3000 euros?I did not understand.I had a shock.I agreed to pay, but little by little. Il a fallu monter un dossier à EDF»»»»»».The quote offered by EDF for a change of heating devices was 21,000 euros.Untrustable.

Since then, the radiators have been stopped, replaced by an oil stove used with sparing.In winter, it is 12 ° C in the stay, where the family saw the closed shutters to isolate.The daily soup regains its function of the past, feed as much as reheating.We stay in front of the television with a duvet.The extra heating solution made it possible to limit heating expenditure to 35 euros per fortnight when it is cold.Electric consumption, too, has been greatly reduced.

Fatima does not work, and her husband washing window is retired.They have a monthly income of 2000 euros for four.They had four children, two of whom are disabled.One of their son, who works as a host agent at the SNCF, always lives with the family.Two of the children are asthmatic.Energy precariousness induces its procession of harmful consequences: humidity, mold, asthma.But here, no withdrawal.Fatima is active as a volunteer in a neighborhood association that does academic support, cooking, gymnastics, sport.""""""""""""""""There is something to do with it all the time.J’y suis bénévole, c’est ma bouffée d’air»»»»»».

This situation is one of the rare cases which respond precisely to the criterion which defines energy precariousness: the real cost to heat according to today's comfort standards exceeds the threshold of the 10% of the household budget.Built after the first thermal regulation, the dwelling is characteristic of the all -electric period.The building is healthy and normally isolated.Here, energy precariousness is born to meet an ineffective heating system and the weakness of income.

By word of mouth, Fatima was aware of the association Soliha-Pact Paris-Hauts -de-Seine, three years ago.An accompaniment file has been mounted, which provides for connection to city gas, the installation of a boiler for heating and hot water, and the change in windows.The work project, financed by the HIGH TRAIN PROGRAM OF THE National Housing Improvement Agency, amounts to € 35,000.There are € 5,000 left at the family.A zero -5 -year loan loan has been obtained through the town hall.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Psychologically it's okay: we have a roof, it's already a lot.My dream is to be finally comfortable at home, to be able to sleep in pajamas without adding the tracksuit.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Nadine, 71 ans, veuve, 2 enfants, employée de commerce à la retraite, propriétaire dans le Vexin (Val d’Oise).

""""""""I was very young when I arrived in this prefabricated in 1964. L’odeur insupportable de moisi et d’humidité que vous sentez vient du sol car il n'y a pas de fondation sous le parquet. Cette maison est reconnue insalubre, mes habits sont dans des housses, j’essuie la moisissure à l’intérieur des armoires qui revient sans cesse, les rats entrent par les trous des sols. Le seul point de chauffe qu'il n'y ait jamais eu dans cette maison est dans la salle à manger.I have an oil stove placed in front of the fireplace. Aucune autre partie de la maison n’est chauffée, aucune. Je refuse les invitations car je ne peux pas les rendre.I am ashamed.»»»»»»

The gangrene of a pavilion on the edge of the fields.

By passing the threshold of the pavilion, it looks like having crossed an invisible border, which passes through another world.Outside, it is a solidly crepie rectangular house, on a well -maintained land, on the edge of the Vexin fields.But the interior looks like an abandoned house, lined with corporation of mold, watered by the humidity that goes up from the ground by capillarity.Everything permeates.The bottom of the walls is blackened, the mattresses are invaded with rust tasks, the fabrics and the clothes hold the mold.

The history of the house merges with that of Nadine and Bernard.Built in 1947, it was initially a simple prefabricated serving as a service housing for the staff subject to the on -the -counter duty of the neighboring artificial insemination center, where Bernard worked.The couple settled there in 1964, and the comfort is then minimal.No heating system, only a coal stove in the main room.In the mid -1980s, Nadine and Bernard became owners.They restore the roof, swallow the facade, install double glazing and a boiler, and decorate the interior.Housing takes on her fiery pavilion she still has, seen from the outside.

But the couple's income deteriorates.Bernard falls seriously ill.There follows a slow interior degradation.The boiler is no longer maintained, and ends up being abandoned.It is first replaced by electric radiators, whose use is far too expensive.Heating was then limited to a single oil radiator.Bernard's death continues to worsen the situation.Poorly heated, little maintained, the house gradually crumbles under the effect of interior rotting.Two rooms were deserted.While life retracts on the parts that have remained a little healthy, mold extends its empire, destroys the parquet floors, letting the earth appear, and the absence of foundations.Rats and mouse multiply there.Nadine wipes the walls of humidity every day.She tries to protect her laundry which, inside the cabinets, rots from below.

Energy precariousness is here the consequence of the decline of a summary building and a chronic revenue insufficiency which prevented from maintaining and renovating.Humidity and time have been combined in a slow but inexorable work of undermining.It is not enough to be the owner to maintain your house in condition.The possession of land property is of little appeal to the financial shortage, the couple of which is never really out.It would have been necessary to have the means to rebuild, or to decide to sell, to access healthy accommodation.

Today, the pavilion is objectively unhealthy.The SOLIHA-PACT association has established the observation, which will make it possible to develop the living conditions of Nadine. Pour cette résidence principale déclarée insalubre, des aides importantes du programme """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Habiter mieux"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" de l’Agence nationale d’Amélioration de l’Habitat peuvent être mobilisées.The accommodation will be assaini and upgraded on the thermal level, allowing Nadine to end her days in this house, where she moved when she was twenty years old.

Romane, 22 ans, mariée, 1 enfant et enceinte du second, en recherche d’emploi, locataire en immeuble Mèze (Hérault).

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""We arrived in this apartment 6 months ago. Depuis ma fille est malade, bronchites, bronchiolites, début de pneumonie. Sa chambre est froide, je mets le thermostat à 25° pour atteindre les 17°, son matelas est noir de moisissure et les murs sont tachés, il n'y a ni ventilation ni aération. Notre médecin traitant connaît la situation de cet immeuble et nous conseille de déménager. Le propriétaire n’est pas tenu de faire les travaux bien que notre logement soit classé indécent, c’est affligeant.While waiting to find a solution, the three of us sleep in the living room.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Trapped in indecent housing. Le médecin leur a fermement conseillé de déménager, après que la petite fille de trois ans a fait un début de pneumonie. C’est un « mauvais immeuble»»»»»» a-t-il dit, responsable des rhumes à répétition et des allergies de l'enfant.

However, by visiting this three -room apartment in an old 1900 house, rather opulent, everything seemed good: Romane and her husband decided very quickly.In reality, the redone walls were only the misery caches of unheatable and degraded accommodation.The main room must be overheated (at 25 ° C) so that the girl's room is a little (at 17 ° C).Another small room, without heating, is not used.In the rooms, air condenses on the north wall which makes a cold wall and generates humidity.He crumbles.The humidity extractor, wiping the wall with sponge towels, nothing helps.In these rooms, the mattresses mold.Linen dries badly.And when the front door swells with humidity, it no longer closes.

The heating installation is unsuitable.It is a central gas heating whose regulator is poorly positioned and works badly.In the room, the radiator never triggers.In addition, this room is not isolated and does not have a ventilation system.The living room is the only preserved room for humidity.They live there three. « On dort tous dans le salon, alors que l’on a deux chambres»»»»»».

According to the diagnosis carried out by the Gefosat association of Montpellier, the owner should accept to insulation of the bedroom wall, that he installs an air extraction, which he modifies the positioning of the thermostat for the adjustment of the heating.Or a a priori limited cost, estimated at 3000 euros.But he refuses to initiate the work.

Unlike many households in energy precariousness, Romane and her husband are not in a difficult financial situation.He is a coaster, on a permanent contract.They have regular income, of 1550 euros per month.Their rent is 800 euros included, and they benefit from 350 euros in housing assistance.But gas heating and electricity cost them 1000 euros per month.According to the diagnosis of the Gefosat association, to manage to heat the three rooms at 19-20 ° C, the bill would amount to 1,700 euros, an energy effort rate close to 10%.They would like to leave this accommodation as soon as possible, do not spend one more winter there.But they do not have the money aside to ensure the deposit and the rent in advance necessary to enter a new accommodation.

The social worker, however, advises them to move.It would be better to convince the owner that he can benefit from subsidies to improve thermal efficiency.If he still refuses, the declaration of indecency will be educated by the CAF.But the outcome might not be favorable.When they learn that social services set up a file that will be opposed to them, the owners often prefer to denounce the lease and later find a more conciliatory tenant.

Françoise, 56 ans, divorcée, mère de 3 enfants, aide soignante à retraite, propriétaire d'un pavillons à Ganges (Hérault).

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""In 2011 I bought this house to retype. Je comptais sur mon fils pour les travaux qui est parti avec mes 15 000€ d’économies pour payer ses dettes.I have no electricity, no water and no toilet. Je m'éclaire avec des bougies, je colmate les fenêtres avec du linge, me chauffe avec un poêle à pétrole, réchauffe les conserves sur un butagaz.I have 50 € per month to live. Ma priorité aujourd’hui n’est pas ma maison mais de trouver un travail bien que je sois à la retraite.Sleeping winter here is difficult, I surround myself cats in the neighborhood but I have to admit that it smells bad.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The pavilion which has become a quasi squat. C’est un pavillon des années soixante à la sortie du bourg.We attack the slopes of the Cévennes, 45 minutes north of Montpellier.When we enter, we discover an interior space as devastated, rooms without doors, wires and pipes hanging ceilings.PVC windows were placed on ripped openings.We imagine ourselves in a squat.A cook in a corner, a table and two chairs, a gas lamp and an oil stove.Nothing more.The counters have been cut: there is neither water nor electricity.Françoise, owner of the house, sleeps there, alone.

She was a caregiver help and worked for a long time in a retirement home.She decides to buy this house in early 2012 with her eldest son.She is 53 years old and takes a credit over 20 years.She knew that there was a lot of work that they should carry out themselves.But as her son is a mason, she launched herself while counting on him.Unfortunately, the latter evaporated by taking the 15,000 euros planned for the work, to pay debts.She didn't see her.The difficulties have accumulated: the year of this acquisition, she found herself unemployed.She no longer has any current, EDF having cut the counter because of the unpaid.It no longer has water either, and therefore more sanitary facilities in operation.She regularly goes to her daughter, who lives in HLM, three kilometers away, to take a shower, wash her dishes, her laundry.His clothes are stored in suitcases.Part of his laundry serves him to clog the windows.It lights up with candles and uses an oil stove.

Life in this half-open pavilion to all winds is far beyond energy precariousness.These are unworthy residential conditions, which someone impose themselves which can just face borrowing reimbursements, does not have the means to develop, to be restored water and the currentelectric.With her 1000 euros of care retirement from the public hospital, she must face 750 euros in drafts for the house, 100 euros of consumer credit, 50 euros in insurance to be able to keep her car, 40 eurosMutual: There is a little more than 50 euros available per month.""I have 50 euros per month to live, I must choose between buying myself to eat or go to rehabilitation for my ankle that I broke.I buy to eat day by day, I can't store anything. Je refuse d’aller à la soupe populaire»»»»»».When it is no longer tenable, she gets a time housed for a friend, or her daughter.

Que faire ? Revendre à perte ou trouver des fonds pour parvenir à mettre en état l’habitation ? Elle se dit « mal emmanchée»»»»»».Its situation is the great financial precariousness which leads to the expedient of summary housing, and not simply to energy precariousness. « Ma priorité aujourd’hui ce n’est pas ma maison, c’est de retrouver du travail»»»»»».The mayor prompted it to make quote to initiate a subsidy request from the National Housing Improvement Agency.The Gefosat association of Montpellier accompanies it in the creation of a file.

Bérengère, 35 ans, mariée, mère de 4 enfants, couple sans emploi, locataire d'une maison de ville à Douai (Nord).

« Le pignon de la maison est tombé dans la cour, il pleut dans la maison, la salle de bain s’émiette, l’électricité n’est pas aux normes.The boiler is broken, it is cold and humid. J’ai mis des boudins sous les portes, du scotch aux fenêtres, on reste la journée sous les couvertures. Mais le plus dur quand je me lève la nuit, est de sentir mon bébé gelé aux pieds.We live the old -fashioned in the internet era.I'm tired. il suffit qu’il pleuve et je suis noyée.We reassure ourselves saying that we have a roof even if it falls into pieces.»»»»

Second zone rental real estate. La maison de brique, dans une rue où elles s'alignent à l'identique, leur a plu tout de suite : 80 m², sur deux niveaux avec des combles et une petite cour, dans un quartier du centre de Douai.Bérangère and her husband have praised her for eight years, with their 17 -year -old son, their two daughters aged 11 and 6, and their one year old baby.

When they arrived already, the house was not in good condition.The poorly adapted boiler has never worked well.Electricity was not up to standard.A water leak appeared in the bathroom, coming from the roof, then a leak with cumulus of hot water.Since they occupied it, the house degrades, humidity and mold has been progressing.A standoff committed to the owner who does not want to do work.For the latter, these problems are a sign that its tenants degrade the premises.In the absence of a boiler, heating is reduced to two devices: an oil radiator for the living room, and an electric radiator for the teenager's bedroom.Only his room is heated because, children, he is the only one spending time there, in his bed, playing video games.The girls' room remains cold, that of parents too.At night, Bérangère rises to verify that her baby sleeping in their room is well: she is worried about finding him often cold.

Due to the state of the accommodation, Bérangère has lost its pleasure as a childminder.The family lives from the husbands of the husband.Their very limited resources do not allow them to find another accommodation in the private park.The mother's depression, the shame of girls who do not want to invite friends, are all signs of precariousness that progresses as mold invade the house.

The fight against the owner now channels all the energy that remains in Bérangère, supported in his approach by the association Soliha-Pact du Douaisis.Despite the consequences on their health, staying in housing and obtaining that it is recognized is the only way to hope for an improvement in the situation.They would no longer have to pay rent and hope to obtain low -cost housing.They would also have the satisfaction of winning against the owner, of obliging him to do the update work.

But such a victory is more than uncertain.The tension on the real estate market maintains, in the private park, situations of energy precariousness particularly difficult to absorb.The time that the Declaration of Insalubrity is successful, the tenant must bear the situation over the duration.And even if the landlord owners can benefit from aid to finance significant work, in exchange for a supervision of rent, their interest is limited: they will always find easily leaning on a tense real estate market.For the tenant, engaging in an action against the owner is a source of concern.Although advised by the Soliha-Pact association, Berangère fears that the situation will be turned: it is afraid of being put to the door by the owner.

And if they leave, she knows that the process will start again with another tenant and that a new procedure will have to be relaunched, without much more likely to succeed.

Sonia, 51 ans, mariée, deux enfant à charges dont un handicapé, mère au foyer, couple sans emploi, locataire d’un meublé dans une résidence privée à Montpelier (Hérault).

""We have lived four in this two -room furnished room for 15 years. Mes deux fils dorment dans la même chambre et nous, dans le salon par terre sur un matelas. L’appartement est classé indécent depuis 3 ans.I take care of my disabled son non -stop, bedridden in his room. Il est régulièrement hospitalisé pour des infections pulmonaires en raison de la moisissure. Toute la plomberie est cassée, jevais chercher l’eau à la salle de bain pour faire ma vaisselle… Nous avons eu une proposition de logement social mais trop loin de l’hôpital.»»»»»»

Recluse life, around the grabatory child. « On passe la journée dans la chambre.We don't live in the room. Le store est toujours fermé, on n’allume pas dans la journée»»»»»».Sonia's life is marked with deep disability iron.She lives in a two -piece 43 m², with her husband and two children, 29 and 21, the first of which is heavily disabled by birth.It's been fifteen years since they are tenants of this semi -furnished apartment that they had initially accepted as a troubleshooting solution.The building is a condominium which looks, outside and inside, to degraded social housing buildings in the La Paillade district, in Montpellier.The family has no activity income.

Life has gradually reduced, tightened around the handicap of the eldest son, who has not been working for three years now.With an armchair difficult to handle outside the building, he goes out very little.Most of the daily life takes place in the 10m² room which he shares with his brother, around the medical bed.Sonia makes crosswords and embroidered small paintings at the point of embroidery.The cadet settles with them on his bed.He plays the game console or makes drawings inspired by manga.

La vie s’est réglée ainsi, autour de l'enfant devenu adulte et grabataire, car « tout seul, il hurle»»»»»».At night, Sonia and her husband sleep on a mattress placed on the floor, in the main room.When you wake up, you have to train the mattress against the wall to circulate and be able to have breakfast on the table, the only piece of furniture in the room, in addition to a console for television.There is only a small wardrobe, family affairs are in boxes stacked in a corner of the room and in the entrance.

The family does not have a heating problem: collective heating works well.Yet the apartment has gradually deteriorated.The owner does not take care of it because he would like to sell.The blind still lowered in the living room is actually broken, the washing machine and the dryer that no longer work have not been replaced.The kitchen water taps are out of use, which forces you to get water in the bathroom with a bowl.For linen, the family goes to the laundromat in the neighborhood.One of the walls of the living room which gives the outside is black of mold.The room is not ventilated, and due to heat and permanent presence, it is saturated with humidity.

We are there far from the criteria of energy precariousness.At the cost of permanent restrictions, especially on energy consumption, the family manages to honor their invoices.The accommodation was recognized indecent by the city's hygiene service, due to the insufficient surface and the interior degradation, but not due to the lack of thermal comfort.Procedures have been taken to the HLM Hérault Habitat office, with the social worker in the district.Failing to find HLM accommodation near the hospital where their son, fragile lungs, can be admitted in emergency, their situation seems blocked.The father tries to take steps, he wrote to the President of the Republic.Until then without success.

Christian, 62 ans, célibataire, VRP, locataire d’une maison de village à Vailhauquès (Hérault).

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""I live in a village in the middle of the hills. Je me chauffais avec un poêle à bois, mais depuis mon hernie discale, il m'était devenu impossible de porter une bûche… je l'ai revendu au profit d'un poêle à pétrole que j'allume quand il fait vraiment très froid.Someone comes to help me enter the 25 -liter can. Je suis comme tout le monde, je cherche à faire des économies alors j'allume tout doucement le chauffage électrique.I have problems on the wall, the windows and the shutters are rotten.Since my operation, I have been going, I will look for my rosemary in the garrigue and prepare her herbal teas.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Alone and disabled in a village house.

The oil stove is the only hot spot in the small accommodation of 45 m².It gives off bad odors, but it is however considered to be the best solutions.It works at night, cut in the morning at 6 a.m., and restored in the afternoon at the time of the nap.When it doesn't work anymore, it is quickly cold.

Christian lives alone in a small building stuck to the old houses of the village.Its windows open on the garrigue.He is there.He is on good terms with his owners, two brothers who have inherited a set of houses for a long time belonging to their family of winegrowers.However, the interior of Christian deteriorates: humidity and mold appeared on the walls, under the windows.

Long -term illness - a herniated disc - has changed everything, to the way to heat.After the operation, the conduct was not recommended for him, he who was VRP from the age of 18, in the trade in olive oil.For a while, colleagues have brought him shopping once a week.Since his stop, he has had two hours of household aid per week.Until 2009, he heated himself thanks to a wood stove, sufficient for the two main rooms of his house.He returned 4 or 5 steers per winter, for 300 euros.But wood has become too difficult to wear."Taking the log, it has become impossible. Ne plus pouvoir se baisser, ça paraît incroyable»»»»»».After abandoning the wood, two electric auxiliary heaters were mobilized.One in the room, the other in the bedroom, costing him 300 euros for three months in winter.He preferred this solution to the oil stove, because of the odors.But oil is almost three times cheaper.

Christian today has 980 euros in monthly income.Half pass through his rent.Added to it 175 euros per month for home insurance, car, mutual and digital television subscription.Today the restriction dominates daily life."The family, when you have money is fine, otherwise you don't see them.Everyone lives their life, for their part.I'm alright.I live as in my mother's time.I have always done stock.»»»»»» Il utilise des bouteilles de butagaz pour sa gazinière et son cumulus d’eau chaude. Il s’était également installé un climatiseur en 2009, qu’il utilisait l’été pour tempérer la nuit, « la nuit c’est impeccable, on dort mieux»»»»»», et l’hiver pour chauffer.But it is expensive, and the device is broken down.

The two brothers, its owners, find it difficult to agree: one is ready to do work to improve the house, the other no.It would be necessary to isolate the roof, change the windows to put double glazing, install new shutters.In the meantime, Christian has equipped himself with two humidity extractors, one in the bedroom, the other in the kitchen part.His future is uncertain.His handicap has become binding, but he does not want to leave."I'm fine here, in the middle of the hills, without neighbor, I will look for my rosemary and I make her herbal teas.»»»»»».

Thanks

The realization of this photographic portrait of energy precariousness has been helped by the Abbé Pierre Foundation.

Associations that are mobilized in the field to find solutions to energy precarious situations have agreed to play the intermediaries.Thanks to them, it was possible to meet households arranged to testify to their difficult living conditions.

We particularly thank the Soliha-Pact associations of Douaisis, Soliha-Pact Paris-Hauts de Seine-Val d'Oise, Soliha-Pact du Loiret, the Gefosat of Hérault, the Builders of Tours, the Builders of Lyon, Brest Builders Companions.

And we thank very warmly, the thirteen households who accepted that images of their interior and their daily life are made public.