HLM Social Housing in France 2026: Who Can Apply, How

Yes, foreigners who are in France lawfully can apply for social housing (logement social, known as HLM in everyday speech), and the official list of documents names the APS for temporary protection outright. We are the Vibe South of France community, and we put these rules together from primary sources (Service-Public, Légifrance, ANIL, prefectures); the check date is 19 October 2026. Below: which permits qualify, the 2026 income ceilings, how to file and renew, how long people wait and what DALO is. To ask how the queue works in your own city, for example in Montpellier (city guide), join the Vibe South of France community chat on Telegram.

In short, as of October 2026

• You can apply at any income. An application is accepted even if your income is above the ceilings (Service-Public F869, 11 September 2026); the ceilings come into play when a specific flat is offered.
• Minimum paperwork: an identity document and a copy of your permit; it is recommended to add family documents and proof of income, of your personal situation and of your work situation.
• A separate application for each département (except Île-de-France), renewed once a year.
• Ceilings are counted on 2024 taxable income. For PLUS outside Île-de-France: €23,403 a year for one person, €45,374 a year for a family of four.
• The “abnormally long” wait threshold: Hérault (Montpellier) and Haute-Garonne (Toulouse) 36 months, Bouches-du-Rhône (Marseille) 30, Alpes-Maritimes (Nice) 45.
• Free of charge. Filing and renewing an application costs nothing.

Who can apply: foreigners and types of document

The rule is stated simply: you can apply “quels que soient le montant de votre revenu” (whatever your income). Service-Public tells a foreigner to attach at least a copy of the titre de séjour (residence permit). Which documents count is set by article 2 of the arrêté of 20 April 2022; the list is closed, and the document must be valid. The card names and types are covered in the guide French residence permit types: Service-Public classes visiteur, for example, as a carte de séjour temporaire, that is item 6.

This is not the whole text of the article, only what our readers most often need. Service-Public also names an asylum seeker’s one-month receipt (renewable), a receipt marked with refugee status and a receipt for subsidiary protection.

Temporary protection

The APS for temporary protection has been on the list since the first wording of the arrêté, published on 28 April 2022 and in force from the next day. The amendment of 21 January 2026 (JORF of 5 March 2026) replaced only item 11 and added 11 bis, so item 16 did not change. How to get the APS itself is covered in the guide Temporary Protection in France. What happens if the APS has expired while a renewal is still being examined is not in the sources. Ask at the guichet before the expiry date, not after.

HLM income ceilings in 2026 (outside Île-de-France, 2024 income)

The thresholds rose by 0.87% on 1 January 2026 (arrêté of 19 December 2025, JO of 24 December; per ANIL). The income used is that of two years before filing: for a 2026 application that means 2024, the taxable income (RFR). If you were not living in France in 2024 and filed no return, our sources do not say what is counted. Ask at the guichet before you apply.

The zones A, B1, B2 and C do not apply here. The ceilings fall into three groups: Paris and adjoining communes, the rest of Île-de-France, and all other regions of metropolitan France. Montpellier, Toulouse, Marseille and Nice belong to the last group.

All amounts are annual taxable income in euros. PLAI is the most affordable housing, PLUS is ordinary social housing: most HLM flats were built under it. The PLAI and PLUS thresholds come from ANIL.

The PLS column is our calculation, not a label from Service-Public. Service-Public calls its table simply “logement social”, but its figures match PLUS multiplied by 1.3 to the euro, and ANIL writes that PLS is calculated from PLUS. Right under the table Service-Public adds that if your income is above these amounts you may be offered PLI housing, so this is the upper ceiling. Compare your income first of all with the PLUS column, and read the PLS column as the ceiling for the priciest social flats.

We have not checked the 2026 rent ceilings per square metre for PLAI, PLUS and PLS and do not give them.

How to apply

1. Check your document. It must be on the list and valid.
2. Choose a route. Online: on the national portal you create a personal account, then the application. Or on paper: form cerfa 14069 at a guichet enregistreur. The helpline is 0 806 000 113.
3. Attach your papers. The minimum is an identity document and a copy of your permit. Service-Public advises adding documents for every family member, proof of income and details of your situation.
4. Keep the number. Once registered you are given a numéro unique of 18 characters (it appears as “Numéro unique national” on the registration certificate). You use it to update and renew the application.
5. Apply in each département you need. If you want to live in Hérault and in Bouches-du-Rhône, you need two applications. In Île-de-France one covers the whole region.

Some départements have their own registration system, as the national portal warns. According to the portal’s description, renewing online requires the NIR (15 characters) of the applicant and of any co-applicant. If you don’t have one yet, find that out in advance, before the first renewal.

Renewal: don’t lose your place in the queue

Renew once a year, between the 10th and 12th month after filing or after the last renewal. A reminder arrives at least a month before the anniversary, but don’t rely on it: put the date in your calendar on the day you file. If you miss the window, the application is cancelled automatically, a new number is issued and the years in the queue reset to zero (Service-Public F32880, 8 September 2026). You can contest the cancellation at the guichet enregistreur of your département.

Who decides, and who goes first

Flats are allocated by a commission attached to the landlord. According to the ministry’s page, its members are representatives of the landlord (among them a tenants’ representative), of the mairie and of the State, and for each vacant flat it examines three applications. Priority goes to people recognised as priority cases under DALO, victims of domestic violence, people with disabilities and those facing eviction. Service-Public adds homeless people and those living in poor conditions.

We have not checked the exact make-up of the commission or its voting rules.

How long is the wait, and when can you go to DALO

We found no figures for actual waiting times in Montpellier, Toulouse, Marseille or Nice in open sources, and we won’t make any up. There is an official threshold. If your application has been waiting longer than the “délai anormalement long”, you can apply to the DALO commission. The prefecture of each département sets its own period:

Alpes-Maritimes has the longest period of the four. For other départements, look up the figure in the annex to the notice.

DALO: if the wait is too long

DALO (droit au logement opposable, the enforceable right to housing) is the right to demand housing through a commission and a court. The conditions per Service-Public (F18005, 8 July 2026): French citizenship or a valid permit, good faith, and you meet the conditions for access to social housing. The Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture names one more step: you have already tried to find housing yourself.

You can apply to the commission without waiting out the period if you have no housing, face eviction or live in housing unfit to live in (Hérault prefecture page, 12 June 2026). Everyone else must first wait out the period in the table above.

After that the sequence is:

• the commission replies within 3 months of the day your application is acknowledged;
• if you are recognised as a priority case, the prefect in Hérault, Bouches-du-Rhône, Haute-Garonne and Alpes-Maritimes must offer housing within 6 months;
• if none is offered, you have 4 months to go to the administrative court;
• the court rules within 2 months.

DALO has its own separate list of permits (arrêté of 20 April 2022, amended on 21 January 2026). We could not open its text, so we can’t say whether it matches the list for an application. Ask the commission of your département.

Action Logement: through your employer

If you are an employee of a private company with more than 10 staff (more than 50 in agriculture), you can also apply for housing through Action Logement. Your employer must approve the application and may set its own conditions: for example, priority for staff on a CDI or with the required length of service. The application is entered on their platform. The page says nothing about residence permits.

Action Logement has other products too: Visale (a free guarantee, see Renting in France) and Loca-Pass (a loan of up to €1,200 for the deposit, see CAF and APL).

What about APL

APL is usually paid for an HLM flat under a convention; the conditions are covered in the guide CAF and APL. The aid is claimed separately, after you move in.

What we don’t know

• The 2026 rent ceilings for PLAI, PLUS and PLS.
• The exact make-up of the allocation commission.
• The list of permits for DALO in its 2026 wording.
• How long people really wait in your city: we found no official summary for the South.
• Whether there is a minimum period of residence in France before you can apply: we found no such condition in the sources we read; ask at the guichet.

If you have already applied for HLM in the South, your experience helps others: tell the chat how long you waited and in which département.

Applying for HLM, or getting ready to? In our chat you can ask how it works in your département and find people who have been through it.

The “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - HLM social housing, relocation and life in the South of France

See Also

• Moving to the South of France: paperwork step by step
• Renting in France
• CAF and APL: housing benefit in France
• Temporary protection in France
• Titre de séjour: residence permit in France
• French residence permit types: which cards are accepted for HLM
• Working in France by nationality: visas, agreements, shortage occupations
• Russians in Montpellier: chat, Hérault préfecture, moving
• Carte Vitale and sécu
• Hérault department
• Bouches-du-Rhône department
• Alpes-Maritimes department
• Toulouse for our own: community and relocation