Overview
- Besson, whose death the Chambéry municipality announced Thursday, was 88.
- He served under Prime Minister Michel Rocard as housing minister in 1989–1991 and returned under Lionel Jospin as secretary of state for housing from 1997 to 2001.
- The 1990 "Besson" law he championed guaranteed a right to housing in France and put the state on the hook to help those without decent shelter.
- His 2001 SRU law required larger communes to reach roughly 20% to 25% social housing, with thresholds set at 3,500 residents nationwide and 1,500 in Île-de-France, to promote social mix.
- After the announcement, the housing NGO now called Fondation pour le Logement des Défavorisés praised him as a key ally, PS leader Olivier Faure hailed him as a tireless defender of the right to housing, and Chambéry mayor Thierry Repentin called him a great statesman dedicated to fighting exclusion.