Proximity to work and housing is more important than ever
“BATIGERE is a social housing group with its origins in the steel industry, born in Lorraine in 1985. We are historically present in the Grand Est, but we have also developed more nationally,” emphasizes President Nicolas Zitoli.
To adapt to the development of employment areas, Sébastien Tilignac specifies, “we are present for the social rental center in Grand Est, in Île-de-France, in Rhône-Alpes and in PACA, where we develop through new construction and projects to improve the acquisition of assets. “
Social housing: a weakened economic model
However, “the sector has been in crisis for several months now, with a sharp increase in Livret A rates, construction costs, but also a reduction in solidarity rent by the state,” Nicolas Zitoli readily acknowledges.
In addition, BATIGERE’s economic model is partly based on the sale of approximately “400 houses per year to generate equity for the production of new programs”. However, “HLM’s sales contracts sometimes struggle to materialize into loans due to the general credit crunch”.
Complementary professions, source of more synergies
Between the turnaround in the real estate market and the energy renovation, Nicolas Zitoli emphasizes that “the BATIGERE group intends to stay on course with 2.5 billion investments in construction and renovation over five years”.
Of course, BATIGERE still remains “a major player in social housing, but not only that. We offer, thanks to our various structures and subsidiaries, a complete range of housing adapted to every life path for the benefit of our customers. Supported housing, transitional housing, home ownership, home building, property development and services (property management) are the core assets of our group, which also caters to the needs of local communities.”
For President BATIGERE, this complementarity is the key to “adapting our model to this new situation”. The aim is to better “distribute risks and ensure that each activity complements each other in synergy”. This of course allows us to rationalize operating costs, but above all to ensure that each of the various activities finds its economic rhythm when the time comes.”
From now on, “we can reach almost 90% of the French”, specifies Mr. Zitoli.
The group restructured to better face the real estate crisis
In addition, the group “initiated the merger between BATIGERE GRAND EST, BATIGERE EN ÎLE-DE-FRANCE and ESPACE HABITAT CONSTRUCTION to give birth to BATIGERE HABITAT, the new parent company of the group”.
“Whether it’s commercial vacancy, debt control or the ability to generate equity, we try to have good conditions for the activities of the social rental division,” explains Sébastien Tilignac. “The aim of this merger is to further improve them and obtain a sufficient financial base to meet the challenges of tomorrow while maintaining the quality of services and preserving our territorial identity.”
“To meet the obligations of the Climate and Resilience Act, we are also moving the cursor between new construction and renovation to produce 1,500 new housing units and renovate almost 2,000 per year,” concludes Mr. Tilignac.
Good news for the planet and for the tenants of BATIGERE!