In Occitanie, the Banque des Territoires made it possible to build more than 9,000 social housing units in 2023.

In the midst of an inflation crisis and facing a slowdown in growth, in 2023 the Banque des Territoires wanted to fully play its counter-cyclical role to cushion the economic shock in Occitanie. Armed arm of the Caisse des Dépôts in the region, the Banque des Territoires granted 1.5 billion euros in loans last year, including 1.07 billion for social housing alone. “While we have 189,000 requests for social housing in Occitanie, an increase of 10%, we have strengthened our support for the sector with a 37% increase in our financing” assures Patrick Martinez, the new regional director.

In 2023, loans from the Banque des Territoires from social landlords in the region made it possible to build 9,223 new homes and renovate nearly 5,000. In Toulouse, the Banque des Territoires, for example, subscribed for €30 million of participatory securities issued by Toulouse Métropole Habitat (TMH) in order to give breathing space to the metropolitan HLM public office. This will allow it to maintain its level of social housing construction.

€300 million for line C of the Toulouse metro, the LGV in the sights

Beyond social housing, the Banque des Territoires provides funding to communities to make the ecological transition and decarbonization of activities concrete. Thus the public bank financed Tisséo to the tune of €300 million for the construction of the third metro line in Toulouse. “This is financing over 50 years for an infrastructure that will decarbonize Toulouse’s mobility. We are the only ones in the financial market to offer such a loan duration. For such equipment, it is the right duration ” assures Patrick Martin.

The regional director also confides that he intends to participate in the financing of the high-speed line (LGV) between Bordeaux and Toulouse in order, again, to decarbonize transport and encourage the modal shift towards the train. “We will be there if we are asked,” he slips.

Investments in Cahors, Ax-les-Thermes…

Loans granted for carrying out community projects literally took off in 2023 in Occitania with an increase of 445%! Among them, we find the renovation of water networks but also the revitalization of the centers of small and medium-sized towns. The Banque des Territoires thus committed €2.3 million to the rehabilitation of the Palais de Via in Cahors (the current prison) and injected €1.1 million into the capital of the mixed economy company of Ax-les- Thermal baths for the future of the thermal activity of the community labeled “Small town of tomorrow”.

A very “field” roadmap

The roadmap of Patrick Martin, who succeeds Annabelle Viollet who became regional director in New Aquitaine, intends to put “the field at the center”. At the head of 84 employees spread between Toulouse and Montpellier, this graduate of Sciences Po Aix is ​​used to hitting the countryside. In his previous assignments in the prefectural body, he had already traveled through the Dordogne, the Pyrénées-Orientales, Hérault, Gers, Gard…”I know Occitanie quite well” he smiles.

The regional director is meeting all the major elected officials and mayors’ associations. Armed with all the subsidiaries of the Caisse des Dépôts Group, it intends to “bring a very strong level of response to the players in Occitanie with La Poste, Icade in real estate, Transdev for transport, BPI France to finance businesses, Adoma to house the more fragile, etc….” says Patrick Martinez.