Eisenauer and Others v France · No. 47090/22 and nine others
European Court of Human Rights · 12 May 2026 · Article 6 § 1
Fifteen people in the Paris region had been recognised as urgent priorities for social housing. They won orders requiring the authorities to house or rehouse them. By June 2025, the last update before the European court, none had received a housing offer. The waits since their orders ranged from two years and ten months to eight years.
What the French judgments secured
Administrative judges ordered the relevant prefects to arrange housing. They set monthly penalties for delay, payable to a public housing fund. The applicants themselves could bring a separate claim for the effect of the delay on their lives. French courts awarded compensation to those who pursued that route.
Why the Strasbourg court divided
The majority accepted that the delays were unreasonable. It nevertheless attached weight to the measures France had taken, including the penalty mechanism and domestic compensation. Given the housing shortage and the steps towards enforcement, it found no breach of Article 6 § 1 by five votes to two. The dissenting judges stressed that the applicants still lacked the housing the original judgments promised.
What the applicants took away
The Strasbourg judgment became final on 21 September 2026. It brought no new housing order and no award of money. The original French orders remained enforceable. For a person reading their own housing judgment, it matters who receives a delay penalty, whether personal compensation has been awarded and whether an actual offer meets the household’s needs.
Judgment and sources
Read the Strasbourg judgment in HUDOC
Court Registry summary of the housing-enforcement judgment
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