Lolita Mélendez-Diaz et Emmanuelle Gazel renouvellent ce partenariat. Midi Libre – Laurie Baud
The Public Land Establishment of Occitanie and the City of Millau have signed a partnership agreement releasing a provisional envelope of 3.5 million euros aimed at urban renewal.
“This is a renewed and strengthened partnership to make the housing issue a key issue”, rejoices Emmanuelle Gazel. This Thursday, January 16, the mayor of Millau and Lolita Mélendez-Diaz, Eastern land director of the Public Land Establishment of Occitanie (EPF) signed a pre-operational agreement opening up opportunities for acquisitions of building land.
More than a year after the realization of the Sablons block project and an initial partnership signed in 2018, this new five-year agreement releases a provisional envelope of 3.5 million euros for the urban renewal of the city. “This is a crucial issue to enable the City to produce housing of all types […] meeting the population typology.” Priority will be given to the construction of housing for home ownership, meaning affordable housing for households with modest incomes, or social housing.
The first concrete translation of this agreement is the purchase by the City of the Guy land, an extension of the Parc de la Victoire. An acquisition in the coming weeks for an amount of €930,000. “The EPF's intervention avoids the community having to take charge of this significant financing. The City of Millau has been able to deploy the necessary tools for its urban revitalization”, emphasizes Lolita Mélendez-Diaz.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“Avoiding slum landlords”
In the longer term, this agreement allows the City to create housing on the acquired land to “accelerate the residential journey of Millau residents, provide them with the right housing at the right time and in decent conditions.”This partnership being an additional tool in the fight against substandard housing, it comes only a few weeks after the government banned the rental of so-called “thermal sieve” housing. Since January 1, 2025, these energy-intensive properties labeled G on the energy performance diagnosis are considered substandard. “This agreement is a lever of assistance to encourage owners to restore their property or, failing that, with a little coercion, to avoid the phenomenon of slum landlords in Millau”, explains the mayor.
A new convention center and a function room
In terms of projects, the City is ambitious and is considering the construction of a convention center, a new function room but also and above all new housing in order to promote diversity in a residential area. “Priority goes to housing and public facilities intended for events in order to boost the quality of life in this sector.”
When signing this agreement, which will be rolled out over five years, Laurine Dumont, Deputy Director General for Planning, Development and Territorial Attractiveness at the Millau Grands Causses Community of Communes, pointed out that the time taken to complete these projects is measured in years. “We are here more on the medium term than the short term. This operating time corresponds to the urban mutation. It is a normal gestation for this type of project.”
The continuation of the Sablons project
In 2018, Millau signed an initial agreement with EPF Occitanie covering a large area of its old town centre. At the end of 2023, the Sablons block rehabilitation project was completed thanks to the acquisition, by EPF on behalf of the City, of the land required to carry out the entire project. Part of this land had been transferred to the community for the creation of a square and the other part transferred to the lessor Polygone for the rehabilitation of a building and the creation of fourteen social housing units.
This new agreement this time targets a large perimeter around the old center (the Poisson), including the main boulevards up to the Quais and the station district and its PEM (Multimodal Interchange Hub) project. It extends to the Rode district, above the Parc de la Victoire.
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