Congrès Hlm · 2027

Agoris analysis · updated October 2026

Key points

• The Congrès Hlm is the annual gathering of the Mouvement Hlm (the French social housing movement), organised by the Union sociale pour l'habitat (USH). Over three days it brings together the decision-makers of Hlm social landlords, elected officials, State representatives and the companies that work for social housing. It is a congress, with plenary sessions and professional meetings, attached to an exhibition: the H'expo trade show.
• For an exhibitor, H'expo presents itself as the "reference trade show for the players and partners of the Hlm world": the USH points out that the Congress brings together the heads of some 566 organisations (figure from the end of 2024).
• Next edition: Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 September 2027, at the MEETT, Parc des Expositions de Toulouse, in Aussonne. Open 9am to 7pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, 9am to 6pm on Thursday.
• The Congress is itinerant: Nantes in 2023, Montpellier in 2024, Paris in 2025, Bordeaux in 2026, Toulouse in 2027. The USH describes it as the largest itinerant professional congress in France.
• Results of the 2026 edition (86th Congress, Bordeaux): 15,800 unique visitors, 27,200 cumulative visits over three days, 5,400 congress delegates, 400 exhibitors, 16,000 m² of exhibition space and 47 start-ups in a dedicated village.
• Visitor and delegate registration for 2027: announced to open during March 2027.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

H'expo describes itself as the national event dedicated to housing professionals. The exhibits cover the whole life cycle of a social housing stock: construction and demolition, materials, façades, roofing and insulation, heating, air conditioning and ventilation, energy, lifts, joinery, security, outdoor landscaping, cleaning, digital services and management platforms, studies and consultancy, banking and insurance, property development, services to residents.

According to the USH, the delegates are chairs, directors, board members and technical staff of Hlm organisations, alongside elected officials and State representatives: institutional buyers or their advisers.

Notable exhibitors

The official exhibitor list available at the time of writing is that of the 2026 edition in Bordeaux, with 363 listings. It includes in particular builders and developers (Bouygues Construction, Eiffage Construction, Vinci Construction, Vinci Immobilier, Bouygues Immobilier, CDC Habitat), energy companies and network operators (EDF, Engie, Enedis, GRDF, Dalkia), equipment manufacturers (Atlantic, Kone, Rockwool), energy and housing services specialists (ista, Techem), as well as funders and institutional partners of the sector (Banque des Territoires, Action Logement, SMABTP, La Poste Groupe).

The 2027 list had not been published at the time of writing: the presence of these companies in Toulouse is not guaranteed.

Visitor quality

According to the USH, the Congress brings together for three days delegates from all the organisations (chairs, directors, board members, technical staff), members of the government, elected officials, the major institutions and social and economic partners of the Movement, regional, national and international guests, building manufacturers and service companies, as well as the press.

The results published for Bordeaux 2026 distinguish the audiences clearly: 5,400 congress delegates, 15,800 unique visitors and 70 journalists and media representatives. The 27,200 visits are a cumulative total over three days, not a number of people. No OJS certification or third-party audit is published: these are the organiser's figures.

The Congress is not open to the general public. Access to the H'expo trade show is free for professionals.

Activities & community

Conference programme

The Congress is organised into several areas. The plenary sessions carry the political voice of the Mouvement Hlm and end with the vote on a resolution. The professional meetings deal with trade topics: young people, the economic and financial outlook, and renewable energy in 2026. On the trade show side, the Exhibition Pavilion, the Parvis d'Actualités Habitat and the Pitch zone host sessions, accessible with the visitor badge.

The 2026 edition had the theme "Habiter 2032. Pour un quinquennat utile" ("Housing 2032. For a useful five-year term"). The Exhibition Pavilion devoted sessions in particular to building durability, to ten years of innovation at the Village des start-up and to the presentation of the Prix d'architecture du projet citoyen, organised by the Unsfa and the USH. The theme and programme of the 2027 edition had not been published at the time of writing.

Awards and prizes

The Trophées de l'innovation Hlm are presented during the Congress, in a plenary session: their 10th edition was awarded in September 2026 in Bordeaux. For a company, they give an insight into the initiatives that Hlm organisations put forward.

Community & networks

The Congress is the annual political gathering of the Mouvement Hlm: in 2026, Vincent Jeanbrun, Minister for Cities and Housing, was present, and the resolution adopted set the priorities of the Mouvement Hlm for the eight months then remaining before the presidential election, and then for the next five-year term. In 2026, for an exhibitor, this meant an audience attentive to budget and regulatory announcements, which directly shape construction and renovation volumes.

The Village des start-up celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2026; it brought together 47 young companies. The Village des start-up is dedicated to young companies in the sector.

On site: what you need to know

The 2027 edition takes place at the MEETT, Toulouse's exhibition park and convention and congress centre, on avenue Concorde in Aussonne (31840), outside the municipality of Toulouse. The site is served by tram line T1 (MEETT Beauzelle stop) and by bus line 30 (MEETT stop). The operator indicates 7 minutes by car from Toulouse-Blagnac airport, 21 minutes from Toulouse railway station, and 5,000 parking spaces on site, 2,000 of them reserved for exhibitors.

Congress opening hours in 2027: Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 September from 9am to 7pm, Thursday 23 September from 9am to 6pm. There are two access levels: the paid congress delegate pass opens the whole Congress (plenary sessions, professional meetings, Exhibition Pavilion, Parvis d'Actualités Habitat, Pitch zone and the H'expo trade show); the visitor pass opens the H'expo trade show, the Exhibition Pavilion, the Parvis d'Actualités Habitat and the Pitch zone. Registration for Toulouse will open during March 2027 on the official registration page.

How much does it cost to exhibit

Preparing your visit

For the exhibitor

• Book early: booking is done in the H'expo exhibitor area.
• Read the construction rules before briefing the stand builder. In 2026, stand projects had to be submitted for approval before 20 July, with capped heights (partitions at 2.40 m, signage at 3.50 m) and a limit on how much of a façade can be obscured. The information for stand builders and decorators will need to be reread for Toulouse.
• Register at least part of the team for the congress delegate pass, as the visitor pass does not give access to the plenary sessions or the professional meetings.
• Align the sales presence with the themes of the Congress: in 2026, renewable energy, adaptation to climate change and renovation were on the programme.

For the decision-maker visitor

• Choose the right access level: the visitor pass is enough for the trade show and its sessions, the congress delegate pass is required for the plenary sessions.
• Identify exhibitors in advance by business area using the official list, which can be filtered by activity.
• Visit the Village des start-up and the Pitch zone to identify solutions that are not yet listed with the large suppliers.
• Plan to take tram T1 (MEETT Beauzelle stop): the MEETT is in Aussonne, outside the city.

CSR policy & initiatives

The 2026 programme included many sessions on the ecological transition, notably the decarbonisation of social housing stock, bio-based materials, off-site construction and reuse, renewable energy production by landlords and adapting the housing stock to heatwaves. These are programme themes, which tell you about buyers' needs, not an environmental commitment by the event itself.

In 2026, the Congress programme detailed "eco-responsible actions of the Congress": carrying out a carbon footprint assessment, offsetting the carbon impact, an emissions reduction approach with estimated emissions of 683 tCO2 (final value established only after verification by an independent auditor), shuttles to hotels and a transport pass, FSC and PEFC paper, and reuse of furniture. These actions have not been announced for Toulouse, and no ISO 20121 certification of the event is published. The 2026 technical regulations did, however, require exhibitors to remove all their waste and rubble, under penalty of a fixed fine.

The verifiable basis for 2027 is the venue: the MEETT has been ISO 20121 certified since July 2022, according to its operator Toulouse Événements, a wholly owned subsidiary of GL events. The site also has 400 covered bicycle racks and a tram connection.

How the trade show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The Congrès Hlm has one constant, its annual rhythm at the end of September or beginning of October, and one variable, the city. Itinerancy is a deliberate choice by the USH, which presents each edition as a foothold in a different region.

The organiser publishes an exhibitor figure only for 2026 (400, for 16,000 m² of exhibition space): it is not possible to draw a conclusion about how the size of the trade show is changing. The context matters more than the size: the 2026 edition was devoted to the Mouvement Hlm's proposals for the next five-year term, with the USH placing the presidential election eight months away at that point. The 2027 edition, whose programme has not been published, will take place after that vote.

All data that does not mention its source comes from the organiser's website.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (union-habitat.org).