“We are despised”: in Béziers, the residents of a residence squatted by drug dealers are fed up

Les habitants de la résidence Louvois à Béziers n'en peuvent plus. J-P A. – Midi Libre

The Louvois residence, l’Hours district, facing the Polygone de Béziers, delivered to its tenants in 2019, shows numerous defects that the lessor does not take into account. The tenants are at their wits’ end.

The brand new Louvois residence, Hours district, is really not unanimously appreciated by its residents. Behind a Potemkin facade, there are many small miseries that spoil the lives of the inhabitants on a daily basis. In 2019, when they entered this brand new luxury building, no one expected to experience any inconvenience. It must be said that the apartments are spacious, for HLM. They offer high-level services and yet, facing the Polygon, the damage happened quickly, very quickly, and all this without being repaired.

Dealers at the garage entrance

You have to start on the ground floor. The bicycle storage room was set on fire because it is very easy to open. Repaired, it is now squatted. A bit further on, the building's trash room serves as an outlet for many residents of the neighborhood. "This is truly scandalous because we pay for the household waste of people who do not live in the building. All because the door is broken and no one comes to repair it. It is open to the four winds", insist the tenants. Still between these two anomalies, dealers have set up at the entrance to the Residence parking lot. To never force the door, it was screwed into the wall and is therefore permanently open so that sellers and customers can do their business in complete peace of mind.

Charges explode

"The straw that broke the camel's back, explains Émilie, ce are these charges which have just increased suddenly, with the addition of a rebalancing over the year which must be paid. We have no proof to explain how we got here because management refuses to explain."

Najoua is very angry with the HLM provider “A roof for all” : "We are looked down upon. We are being made fun of. Every time we request a repair, we are asked to take advantage of our home insurance so that “A roof for all” does not have nothing to pay. It’s scandalous. So nothing is done because our insurance companies are not there to resolve poor workmanship problems in this building."

Laurent and Annick are going in the same direction. "They never answer us. Our letters remain unanswered. It’s unbearable. We are in a brand new building whose rooms are moldy due to lack of waterproofing of the facades. It’s hard to live with. To silence us for a while, cover-up work is carried out. And then it all starts again."

We were unable to contact Jean-Christophe Bailet, the director of Un roof pour tous, or even the local representative. On the other hand, the town hall has done everything possible to help residents. In vain. The site visit is very explicit. Just like the business sector, located on the other side of the Louvois residence, facing the court, defects appear over time. Cracks and leaks are also commonplace.

Abderaman, 78 years old, carries his son on his back

Abderaman, 78, lives with his disabled son. "Not only are there rising sewers in the bathroom, but the cleaning of the common areas is not done regularly and correctly, but there is also damage from the start. rsquo;entrance to the building. The doors are broken down. The worst is when the elevator is broken. I have to carry my son on my back and the stairs are really not suitable for this kind of exercise." Abdéraman who asked for an apartment to accommodate a disabled person had to redo the shower in his bathroom himself. His son could not get in and finally, access to the balcony is impossible in a wheelchair. A step prevents a chair from moving forward.

For several days, on the first floors, residents have been subjected to attempted break-ins into their apartments. "Without having secure doors and video protection, we cannot sleep peacefully. The building has free access and it’s up to us to police it", confirms Nathalie. They can no longer stand the inertia that has set in in this HLM residence. Residents have called on the services of a lawyer to try to resolve the problem and no longer have surprises with the ever-increasing charges.

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