Abstract
This paper presents the current situation in the social rented housing sector in France and some new policy directions. Like most of other Western countries, France has been facing a rising volume of low-income housing needs, although the socialist government have held up an ambitious social housing policy since 1981. The reasons why the existing social housing institution can not respond to their needs and what alternatives have been sought are argued here, paying attention to the concrete measures set by “Loi Besson” in 1990 and to the role of AAS (Associations d'Action Social). The responses to the current situation are diverse and still in a process of the search. In the conclusion, the prospect of social housing and some negative effects caused by the discontinuity in housing policy are discussed.
