Permit to live

Following the war, France desperately lacks housing. The situation is particularly critical in the Paris region. Unemployed or underpaid and unable to afford rent, fathers take refuge with their families in shantytowns in the vicinity of the capital.

 

In 1950, despite the cold and the snow, a family in Neuilly-Plaisance is evicted for not paying rent on time. The Abbé Pierre welcomes them in his house, in a room converted to a chapel. He then borrows money and buys a piece of land in Neuilly-Plaisance. Then with the help of his companions, he becomes a builder.

 

 

The Abbé Pierre cheated a little on the building permit: the edifice is too long with its 26 meters… but the administration will not have the audacity to ask for the demolition, and he makes the most of this opportunity and houses even more families.