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Cold Snap Exposes Heating Failures in French Social Housing

Uneven landlord responses left vulnerable tenants relying on portable heaters despite ongoing repairs.

Overview

  • As the cold wave persisted on January 7, hundreds of households in the North, Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône reported heating outages.
  • In Bollène’s Le Vélodrome complex, nearly 70 apartments have been without collective heat for more than two weeks due to a suspected leak on the network.
  • Residents described indoor temperatures as low as 13°C at midday and 8°C at night, with elderly, disabled people and children reporting illness and acute discomfort.
  • In Dunkerque, Dalkia replaced a buried pipe damaged at over four meters depth, distributed portable radiators, and reported service restored after roughly 24 hours.
  • In Aix-en-Provence, the landlord Famille & Provence confirmed a repair intervention on January 5, while in Bollène Grand Delta Habitat offered one portable heater per flat and gave no official response to media inquiries.