In September 2024, the Paris Olympic Games will leave a material legacy: Minister of Higher Education Sylvie Retailleau announced in Le Parisien, on October 26 that, after the international competition, 1,667 housing units that will have hosted athletes and journalists during the Paris Olympic Games will be used for student housing. Eighty percent of these units are located in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, just north of Paris. The remainder will be in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, in the Lille metropolitan area, in northern France.

The management of this accommodation will be entrusted to private organizations, notably social housing associations, rather than the regional centers for university and school services (CROUS), the minister's entourage told Le Monde.

Will this unexpected news be enough to restore a somewhat tarnished Olympic image among students? In the spring of 2023, the education authorities were asked by the Olympic Games Organizing Committee to free up 3,000 of the 22,000 university units in student residences in the Paris region during the event, pushing the usual tenants out. This initiative was suspended by the Paris Administrative Court, in a decision dated August 31, on the grounds that it was not permissible for CROUS "to organize the vacancy of these accommodations" in advance. Only rooms vacant on July 1, 2024, can be rented to the Committee, according to the provisions made in the law of March 26, 2018, relating to preparations for the event.

The Paris CROUS has lodged an appeal with the Council of State, which is still pending, as Le Monde learned from the CROUS, which did not wish to give details of the arguments put forward. The Ministry, for its part, considers that the judge has "not invalidated the principle on its merit, but on its form," and asserted that "everything will be done according to the rules of law."

Flat-rate assistance of €100

The minister confirmed that a maximum of 2,200 students will be relocated. Students will be relocated as close as possible to their place of study, and will receive a lump-sum payment of €100. Two tickets to Olympic events will also be offered to each of the students concerned.

Two options were possible, as Minister Retailleau's entourage, who would like to "put an end to the controversy," told Le Monde. The first was to distribute the public servants accredited for the Olympics among the 30% of vacant places in the residences during the summer period. "But this choice meant having these people, who will be living with staggered schedules according to the rhythm of the competitions, cohabiting with students who are taking exams or working in the summer, which is not ideal," they said.

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