More than a third of universities are in poor condition, according to a report by Court of Auditors

The renovation effort of the university building is insufficient to upgrade a park which suffers from a lack of maintenance. The amount paid by the State “has stagnated for more than ten years”, observes the Court in a report published Tuesday October 11.

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The universities’ housing stock is largely “degraded” and to reverse the trend, “the path remains long”. The observation, not very flattering, is drawn up by the Court of Auditors in a Report devoted to university real estate , published Tuesday, October 11. The second state park – 20 % of the area – faces two major challenges: growth in student workforce and “devolution”, a process by which the State is gradually transfers its property to establishments that have become autonomous since 2007.

According to the courtyard, more than a third of the universities’ building stock is in a state that is not or unsatisfactory, 10 % of the buildings receiving the public not obtaining the approval of the security commissions. “The overall energy performance is poor, even though this expenditure position is growing due to tariff increases and digital development,” notes the report.

The Ministry of Higher Education estimates the cost of pending rehabilitation at 7 billion euros, 75 % of which would be related to the energy and environmental transition. For its part, France Universités, an association which brings together the presidents of the establishment, retains an amount of 15 billion euros for a total renovation.

state of the place very variable

From one establishment to another, the inventory is very variable: the University of New Caledonia does not present any dilapidated building because of its recent existence, as well as the Burgundy-Franche University- Comté, which estimates the dilapidated heritage at 4 % due to an important financial effort over the last decade. In contrast, 80 % of the heritage of Sorbonne-Paris-Nord is declared dilapidated, and 70 % of the premises of Paris-Saclay are in a state little or not satisfactory. Apart from these extreme cases, “most of the universities have 20 % to 30 % of their heritage in poor condition”, specifies the report.

Financial magistrates point to the difficulty of simply knowing this heritage, because of the information systems chosen by universities which “are difficult to compatible with those developed by the State” within its real estate management. Consequence: the measurement of the sanitary quality of buildings, their energy performance or even their occupancy rate remains very imprecise.

The state of degradation of premises stems from the fact that “universities do not have the means to fulfill their maintenance obligation, as the financing of university real estate remains faulty”, explains the court. In question: the overall amount devoted to real estate in the grant for public service charges paid by the State at each university, which “has stagnated for more than ten years”.

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/Media reports.