"I'd rather die than stay here", says Belkheir, a 49-year-old security guard and tenant of a studio flat deemed "unfit for housing" in Saint-Denis, on Paris outskirts. According to the Foundation Abbé Pierre, at least 600,000 homes in France are unfit for housing, which can pose health and safety risks to occupants. In Saint-Denis, a working-class town where part of the Olympic village for the Paris 2024 Games is located, one in five private homes is said to be substandard, or around 4,500 homes, according to the town hall. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES