What are the main types of housing benefits in France?

The three main housing benefits in France are the Personalised Housing Aid (APL), the Social Housing Allowance (ALS), and the Family Housing Allowance (ALF).

How often is the French housing benefit data updated?

This dataset is published monthly by the Caisse nationale des allocations familiales (CNAF) and contains continuous monthly series starting from 2016.

Which housing tenures are covered in this France dataset?

The data covers households receiving benefits who are tenants, home buyers repaying a loan, or residents of hostels and residences.

What is the difference between APL, ALS, and ALF in France?

In France, APL is generally for subsidized housing, ALF is family-focused, and ALS is a general social allowance for those who do not qualify for the other two.

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France housing benefits by housing type

Name: France housing benefits by housing type
Creator: CNAF – Caisse nationale des allocations familiales (data.caf.fr)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

France housing benefits monthly recipients and expenditure by type of housing, from CNAF.

Source: CNAF – Caisse nationale des allocations familiales (data.caf.fr)Last updated: Sep 14, 2026, 16:18Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	02-2026	01-2026	12-2025	11-2025	10-2025	09-2025	08-2025	07-2025	06-2025	05-2025	04-2025	03-2025	02-2025	01-2025	12-2024	11-2024	10-2024	09-2024	08-2024	07-2024	06-2024	05-2024	04-2024	03-2024	02-2024	01-2024	12-2023	11-2023	10-2023	09-2023	08-2023	07-2023	06-2023	05-2023	04-2023	03-2023	02-2023
Households receiving a housing benefit4
Tenants	5,171,391	5,166,597	5,225,236	5,213,051	5,173,733	5,049,425	4,958,053	4,947,214	5,058,617	5,097,695	5,119,072	5,141,553	5,142,926	5,140,446	5,202,975	5,191,768	5,159,746	5,009,060	4,938,713	4,934,368	5,066,996	5,123,668	5,153,448	5,182,905	5,192,755	5,190,825	5,221,635	5,211,711	5,175,717	5,016,374	4,938,963	4,927,096	5,071,016	5,136,196	5,154,586	5,191,230	5,188,545
Home buyers repaying a loan (accession)	76,934	78,293	81,141	81,881	82,870	84,297	85,688	86,901	88,593	87,026	87,986	89,628	91,227	93,318	97,689	98,735	100,364	102,832	105,006	107,063	110,052	107,770	109,252	111,984	114,295	117,437	123,593	125,105	126,889	128,622	130,764	132,693	136,498	138,280	135,415	139,649	142,489
Residents of hostels and residences (foyers)	374,104	373,911	377,940	376,461	373,272	356,080	352,597	356,816	367,947	373,522	375,785	377,353	377,306	377,537	379,955	379,241	376,673	359,720	357,172	361,268	373,731	381,741	384,343	386,401	386,088	384,966	388,845	387,707	384,510	364,769	362,157	365,492	378,292	384,011	387,200	390,311	389,833
Housing type unknown	2,213	2,443	1,612	1,888	2,104	4,902	4,377	4,382	2,478	1,925	2,040	2,232	2,157	2,454	1,702	1,763	2,120	5,422	4,106	4,255	2,237	1,904	2,233	2,039	2,031	2,526	1,499	1,821	2,215	4,844	3,634	4,030	2,269	1,852	2,079	2,133	1,946
Housing benefits paid4
Tenants	1,272.15	1,271.02	1,279.12	1,275.42	1,265.53	1,227.79	1,210	1,208.05	1,230.64	1,207.04	1,210.89	1,217.74	1,219.57	1,218.44	1,229.03	1,226.31	1,218.53	1,150.45	1,138.18	1,136.99	1,163.35	1,173.55	1,179.85	1,189.46	1,193.74	1,194.43	1,193.63	1,191.24	1,182.64	1,117.08	1,102.83	1,100.21	1,127.42	1,139.78	1,144.2	1,155.39	1,156.81
Home buyers repaying a loan (accession)	14.98	15.16	15.6	15.72	15.86	16.09	16.36	16.58	16.88	16.61	16.75	17.01	17.29	17.62	18.26	18.43	18.67	18.94	19.32	19.65	20.11	19.74	19.97	20.38	20.78	21.29	22.18	22.42	22.67	22.78	23.17	23.48	24.05	24.33	23.97	24.54	24.98
Residents of hostels and residences (foyers)	83.99	83.78	84.01	83.61	82.99	79.95	79.2	79.63	81.13	81.81	81.97	82.32	82.27	82.19	82.45	82.17	81.7	77.49	76.94	77.34	78.99	80.01	80.35	80.83	80.76	80.53	80.98	80.73	80.13	75.57	74.95	75.31	77.05	77.74	78.15	78.76	78.7
Housing type unknown	0.55	0.61	0.45	0.5	0.55	1.12	0.99	1	0.6	0.48	0.51	0.54	0.53	0.6	0.45	0.46	0.54	1.17	0.9	0.95	0.51	0.46	0.52	0.48	0.47	0.59	0.38	0.45	0.54	1.03	0.77	0.86	0.51	0.43	0.48	0.5	0.45
Households receiving the APL4
Tenants	2,374,288	2,375,729	2,382,831	2,376,296	2,367,386	2,344,732	2,343,801	2,347,086	2,364,494	2,357,666	2,354,833	2,360,645	2,360,505	2,362,599	2,366,493	2,363,612	2,358,966	2,328,987	2,332,634	2,337,835	2,361,058	2,361,945	2,362,413	2,371,624	2,375,031	2,378,308	2,368,944	2,364,985	2,359,865	2,326,666	2,327,156	2,330,702	2,356,321	2,362,605	2,357,497	2,369,252	2,369,441
Home buyers repaying a loan (accession)	20,191	20,815	21,343	21,543	21,901	22,221	22,551	22,969	23,283	22,826	23,153	23,483	23,936	24,865	25,706	26,075	26,649	27,116	27,635	28,405	29,014	28,343	28,914	29,531	30,155	31,520	32,644	33,045	33,687	34,032	34,642	35,378	36,111	36,640	36,090	36,842	37,631
Residents of hostels and residences (foyers)	219,859	219,926	221,597	221,148	220,568	218,199	216,638	217,004	218,905	219,944	219,932	220,499	220,251	220,505	221,106	221,141	221,194	219,807	218,690	219,355	221,906	224,303	224,641	225,487	225,351	225,185	226,948	226,687	226,330	223,866	222,554	223,084	225,996	226,969	227,669	228,742	228,376
Housing type unknown	999	874	850	929	932	1,610	1,102	1,069	807	762	904	978	929	879	811	813	925	1,622	1,000	982	733	755	931	769	776	870	715	885	950	1,470	988	927	819	783	902	937	816
Households receiving the ALS4
Tenants	2,047,627	2,042,133	2,081,791	2,077,465	2,049,399	1,951,427	1,858,894	1,843,648	1,933,810	1,985,826	2,011,682	2,027,293	2,028,526	2,025,852	2,070,073	2,062,202	2,034,975	1,922,167	1,843,834	1,831,988	1,935,415	1,995,024	2,024,427	2,042,733	2,046,970	2,041,436	2,073,082	2,067,209	2,037,701	1,920,124	1,838,779	1,822,438	1,936,703	1,994,027	2,022,080	2,043,436	2,040,021
Home buyers repaying a loan (accession)	18,213	18,400	18,841	18,951	19,038	19,239	19,332	19,461	19,767	19,671	19,834	20,191	20,487	20,822	21,556	21,670	21,905	22,210	22,313	22,572	23,025	22,892	23,119	23,593	23,874	24,253	25,173	25,336	25,571	25,883	25,983	26,131	26,959	27,249	26,911	27,686	28,187
Residents of hostels and residences (foyers)	153,606	153,340	155,660	154,643	152,034	137,221	135,285	139,129	148,330	152,877	155,171	156,170	156,390	156,383	158,185	157,440	154,829	139,303	137,875	141,293	151,187	156,805	159,071	160,281	160,093	159,135	161,235	160,362	157,520	140,262	138,940	141,727	151,631	156,384	158,887	160,903	160,810
Housing type unknown	1,020	1,339	548	760	946	3,008	2,973	3,034	1,444	934	921	1,051	1,033	1,353	669	732	994	3,517	2,835	2,958	1,326	930	1,093	1,085	1,062	1,432	589	704	1,026	3,075	2,384	2,808	1,263	874	978	1,013	960
Households receiving the ALF4
Tenants	749,476	748,735	760,614	759,290	756,948	753,266	755,358	756,480	760,313	754,203	752,557	753,615	753,895	751,995	766,409	765,954	765,805	757,906	762,245	764,545	770,523	766,699	766,608	768,548	770,754	771,081	779,609	779,517	778,151	769,584	773,028	773,956	777,992	779,564	775,009	778,542	779,083
Home buyers repaying a loan (accession)	38,530	39,078	40,957	41,387	41,931	42,837	43,805	44,471	45,543	44,529	44,999	45,954	46,804	47,631	50,427	50,990	51,810	53,506	55,058	56,086	58,013	56,535	57,219	58,860	60,266	61,664	65,776	66,724	67,631	68,707	70,139	71,184	73,428	74,391	72,414	75,121	76,671
Residents of hostels and residences (foyers)	639	645	683	670	670	660	674	683	712	701	682	684	665	649	664	660	650	610	607	620	638	633	631	633	644	646	662	658	660	641	663	681	665	658	644	666	647
Housing type unknown	194	230	214	199	226	284	302	279	227	229	215	203	195	222	222	218	201	283	271	315	178	219	209	185	193	224	195	232	239	299	262	295	187	195	199	183	170

Latest reading

Tenants stood at 5,171,391 Households in Feb 2026. That is +0.1% from Jan 2026 and +0.6% from a year earlier. The series on this page is monthly and runs from Jun 2016 to Feb 2026. Source: CNAF – Caisse nationale des allocations familiales (data.caf.fr).

Latest: 5,171,391 Households; Feb 2026
vs previous period: +0.1%; Jan 2026
vs a year earlier: +0.6%

About this data

France housing benefits monthly recipients and expenditure by type of housing, from CNAF. This dataset tracks households receiving personalized housing aid (APL), social housing allowance (ALS), and family housing allowance (ALF) since 2016. It details total monthly amounts paid in millions of euros. Breakdowns include tenants, home buyers, and residents of hostels.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main types of housing benefits in France?: The three main housing benefits in France are the Personalised Housing Aid (APL), the Social Housing Allowance (ALS), and the Family Housing Allowance (ALF).
How often is the French housing benefit data updated?: This dataset is published monthly by the Caisse nationale des allocations familiales (CNAF) and contains continuous monthly series starting from 2016.
Which housing tenures are covered in this France dataset?: The data covers households receiving benefits who are tenants, home buyers repaying a loan, or residents of hostels and residences.
What is the difference between APL, ALS, and ALF in France?: In France, APL is generally for subsidized housing, ALF is family-focused, and ALS is a general social allowance for those who do not qualify for the other two.