ABSTRACT
At the end of the Second World War, a majority of French households rented from private landlords, a very high proportion of their properties dating from before the First World War. Parts of the private-rented sector earned ill-repute in the years of most acute shortage, when marchands de sommeil – literally ‘traders in sleep’ – sold bed spaces in eight-hour stretches to unfortunate workers unable to afford, or find more than, a bed for more than eight hours at a time. Small hotels in Paris, a form of private renting, are still crowded with single African men, working very early hours on the street hoses, cleaning the cities. Private renting began to decline fairly rapidly in the late 1970s – leading to a loss of 95,000 units a year during the 1980s. After the war, the government assisted owner-occupation on more and more generous terms. The high cost of direct government support, particularly the housing allowances, led to curtailment.
