Major social housing providers and public housing registries in the PACA region are well aware of the legal and physical headaches when entire blocks of vacant flats in Marseille (such as in Sainte-Marthe, Le Grand Saint-Barthélemy, or the renovated Capelette district) are occupied by squatters right before planned renovations or demolition.
Even with the streamlined anti-squat legal procedures introduced in 2026, managing hundreds of apartments during transition periods is incredibly challenging. This creates a high risk of theft, vandalism, and opportunistic occupants exploiting structural vulnerabilities.
Rogue Landlords Exploiting Vacant Public Properties
In Marseille, rogue third-party individuals sometimes break into vacant public housing units, change the locks, and illegally rent them out to vulnerable looking couples or families for high cash payments. This scenario is a nightmare for housing providers, leaving you with double victims (the scammed tenants) and a complex, highly visible legal battle to repossess your asset.
As a reminder, a property manager trying to evict these occupants himself may face criminal changes for home invasion. This can damage your community reputation.
The Cost of Traditional Bricking or Walling Opening Methods
Traditionally, housing providers in Marseille resorted to bricking up windows and doorways of empty units with grey cement and heavy cinder blocks.
This practice is highly visible, making properties look abandoned and degrading the living environment for surrounding tenants. More importantly, when it is time to renovate or rebuild, removing these concrete barriers is incredibly costly, noisy, and produces tons of construction waste.
Temporary Clean Steel Barriers: The Game-Changer
This is where a professional solution like ANTI-SQUAT SOLUTIONS changes the rules. Housing authorities can establish partnerships with our regional security teams, who can deploy secure steel safety products within hours of a tenant checking out.
A heavy temporary steel door is compressed inside the original door frame, completely securing the entrance while preserving the walls and leaving no trace upon removal. It opens easily with certified security keys provided to your authorized architects or contractors. This completely blocks illicit occupants from entering. Once your renovations are ready to start, we quickly retrieve our leased secure doors.
