Sociological contributions on mobilization and geographic data on housing conditions in France and Israel help social scientists to understand the sense of the “housing crisis”. In the 2000s, both countries have seen a restructuring of the role of the State and the emergence of important social movements denouncing the problems related to housing difficulties. This article compares the factors of emergence of the housing crisis in the two countries, analysing its causes, forms of mobilization, their arguments, social sciences narratives on this question and the technical solutions put forward by governments. Comparison of the two housing crises shows that their sociological meanings reflect different national narratives.