13 “Article L. 441-2-2: Decisions to refuse applications for social housing must be notified to the applicant, in writing, accompanied by the reason or reasons for refusal.” “Article L. 441-2-3-2 (inserted pursuant to Act No. 2007-290 of 5 March 2007): State representatives in départements, in consultation with organisations, associations and public authorities contributing to achieving their département's housing policy objectives, shall ensure that persons covered by the first two paragraphs of Article L. 441-2-3 II shall have access to information on the right to housing.” “Article L.641-1: At the suggestion of the municipal housing department and after consulting the mayor, the State representative in the département may, for a maximum period of one year renewable, requisition all or part of habitable premises that are vacant, unoccupied or insufficiently occupied, in order to assign them to the persons specified in Section L. 641-2. This power shall extend to the total or partial requisition of hotels, lodging houses and similar premises, with the exception of hotels and lodging houses used for tourism. As a transitional measure, the State representative in the département may, after consulting the mayor, exercise the requisition right provided for in this Section in any municipality in which there is a housing crisis.” “Article L.641-2: Only the following shall be entitled to benefit from the provisions of this chapter: Homeless persons or persons housed under manifestly inadequate conditions; Persons subject to a final court eviction order.” “Article L.642-1: In order to safeguard the right to housing, the State representative in the département may requisition, for a minimum of one year and a maximum of six years, premises which a legal person has a right in rem to use and which have been vacant for more than eighteen months, in municipalities where there is a substantial imbalance between housing supply and demand that adversely affects persons on low incomes and other disadvantaged persons.” “Article R.441-1: Social housing agencies shall allocate the housing specified in Article L. 441-1 to the following persons: 1. Natural persons of French nationality and natural persons lawfully resident on French territory […] whose income does not exceed certain limits set for the entire household, account being taken of dependants.” “Article R.441-5: The state, local authorities, their public institutions, joint municipal public bodies, employers, those responsible for collecting employers’ contributions to housing construction, chambers of commerce and industry and certain non-profit making organisations may all be beneficiaries of the housing reservations specified in the second paragraph of Article 441-1. Any housing reservation agreement entered into under this paragraph shall be notified to the prefect of the département where the dwellings concerned are located. Agreements shall specify the period within which the body concerned must respond to the nomination of candidates by the beneficiary of the reservation and the arrangements for allocating the housing if no offer is made within that period. The total number of dwellings reserved for local authorities, groupings of such authorities and chambers of commerce and industry in exchange for financial guarantees for loans may not exceed 20% of the stock of housing in each programme. Prefects may exercise their right of reservation under paragraph 3 of Article L. 441-1 when dwellings are first offered for rent or as they become vacant. Such reservation shall be the subject of an agreement with the social housing agency. In the absence of an agreement, it shall be regulated by a prefectoral order. The total number of dwellings reserved by prefects for priority applicants may not represent more than 30% of the total stock of housing of each body, including 5%