On Friday October 7th, the association Habitat et Humanisme Ille-et-Vilaine inaugurated the "L'Aviateur" complex with 14 housing units and a "third place", a collective space open to all, in the new Courrouze district south-west of Rennes in the municipality of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande. Easily connected to downtown Rennes, « l’Aviateur » is a building made up of appartments and soon of a third place that welcomes people of various ages and situations, weakened by life and in a precarious situation. Mainly 9 young people followed by the Mission Locale of Rennes (We Ker) within the framework of the device « Sortir de la rue » are accommodated.
This real estate complex was made available, with a free 10-year lease, by the OPPCI Immobilier Impact Investing, supported by Swiss Life Asset Managers France and Cedrus & Partners.
The 14 appartments (9 T2, 3 T3 and 2 T4), are spread over 3 floors. The young people of the Mission Locale occupy the 9 T2. The third place, in process of acquirment will be a 75 M² space on two levels open to all and primarily to residents, in order to create social links and organize collective support workshops. It is about making it a real place of conviviality to cause mutual aid and solidarity in the neighborhood. It will allow, among other things, assistance with administrative procedures, the provision of a digital space, awareness of families to eco citizenship etc. This place will be open to the neighborhood residents and the building is largely in line with a sustainable development philosophy. The building has an energy performance level of RT 2012-10%. It is certified NF Habitat HQE Profil Excellent (9 stars) and labeled E+ C.
A team of volunteers from Habitat et Humanisme ensures the implementation of the social project and promotes « living together » : Reception and permanences, organization of open to all workshops in the third place and a real work of collaboration, cooperation and connection with the local actors. In addition, a Social and Family Advisor, whose position is financed by the State within the framework of rental intermediation assists young people and families in their effort to integrate into housing.
Céline Beaujolin, Executive Director of the Habitat and Humanism Federation, explains: "This new Habitat and Humanism location is a continuation of our third places already present in ten cities and created in Lyon in 1997. It is a different framework centered on conviviality and encounters, which allows us to accompany and give back confidence to the most fragile by “doing something together” with people from the neighborhood coming from all horizons
Launched in 2019 the OPPCI Real Estate Impact Investing is the first impact real estate fund launched by Swiss Life Asset Manager France and Cedrus & Partners. Its objective is to rehouse people in difficulty via two partners, the Samu Social de Paris and Habitat et Humanisme, while having a return objective for investors. Therefore, 20 % of the inverstor’s total commitments are invested in residential assets made available free of charge to these two social housing actors.
« This housing complex in Rennes fully embodies the ambition of the Impact Investing Real Estate fund, which is to fight against exclusion, to promote the energy transition and to privode innovative solution to the housing crisis. This is an innovative model because it will allow approximatively 200 people in fragile situations to stabilize live with dignity and benefot from support in their social reintegration effort, while enjoying a true neighborhood life. » says Loïc Lonchampt, Portfolio Manager at Swiss Life Asset Managers France.
« This “impact ” fund launched in 2018 was a strong innovation by bringing together commited institutional investors for a total amount of 100M€. This first acquisition demonstrates how the capital deployed in funds of this nature provides concrete responses to environmental and/or social issues. Through this fund, we have chosen to fight against poor housing, and these 14 units operated by Habitat et Humanisme demonstrate this », says Sébastien Roca, partner at Cedrus & Partners.