The purpose of the “Organisme de Foncier Solidaire” is to get and manage land (built or not) to support the construction of housing for households facing difficulties to access decent housing. The interest for such a scheme lies in the capacity to neutralise land cost and its evolution in the time, thus making possible a decrease of housing cost and the affordability of housing. The “Organisme de Foncier Solidaire” grants a lease “Bail Réel Solidaire » that can be only used by an OFS and does not build directly. It is a developer that builds housing while respecting BRS clauses: resources tresholds, selling price, principle residence and accordance between household size and housing size. The “Bail Réel Solidaire” is concluded for a period from 19 to 99 years and can be reloaded when there is a change of ownership.

The OFSML is a non-profit organisation, approved by the State on 20 July 2017. A person works half-time for the organisation. The OFSML is currently working on two housing operations: Cosmopole and Renan. Projects rely on the classic CLT model: dissociation of land ownership from the building property itself. The involvement of the OFSML into the Cosmopole project (developer: Finapar) follows the following process:

1. The City of Lille owns the land;

2. Agreement between the OFSML and the City of Lille to develop OFS/BRS housing;

3. The City of Lille launches a call to tender. It sells the entire land to the selected developer;

4. The developer sells the land to the OFSML equivalent to 15 OFS housing for 1€ and signs an initial BRS (lease) with the OFSML; the promoter pays a monthly fee of 1€/m²;

5. The developer sells OFS/BRS housing while respecting criteria defined by the OFSML. The promoter is responsible for construction works;

6. Every buyer must be approved by the OFSML;

7. Every approved buyer must sign a VEFA-type reservation with the developer and an User BRS with the OFSML;

8. The household is therefore owner of the building itself and tenant of the land (payment of a monthly fee of 1€/m²);

9. The owner wishes to sell its housing. The selling price is regulated and the new buyer must respect the same conditions: resource thresholds, principle residence, accordance between household size and housing size. The BRS (lease) is therefore reloaded for 99 years.

The Cosmopole project is part of a broader program composed of a hotel, an art gallery, a British cultural centre and 210 housing including 15 under the OFS/BRS model. The Renan project will be composed of 91 housing including 17 under the OFS/BRS model.