Affordable housing

Brussels is facing an acute housing crisis

• Brussels is the most expensive region in Belgium to live in, where the gap between purchasing power and housing costs has widened the most in recent years. This housing crisis affects everyone except the super-rich.
• Brussels is facing a historic shortage of social housing when compared to other European metropolises. This is untenable.
• But the housing crisis does not only affect low-income earners, it also affects society as a whole. Our middle class is affected in multiple ways. It is feeling pressure from above as well as from below.
• Regulations of our rental market are inadequate: rents have risen 20% over the past decade on top of inflation. bovenop de inflatie.
• The Brussels housing market is atypical: supply is insufficiently adapted to demographic realities, including a very young population, many singles, single-parent families, but above all many people struggling with a risk of poverty.
• Climate challenges put further pressure on housing affordability. 70% of Brussels homes pre-date 1945. Yet between 40%-50% of the population are unable to finance the necessary energy renovation works themselves to meet imposed targets.

The consequences? City exodus, precarity and urban sprawl

After two consecutive decades in which both purchase and rental prices rose significantly, but wages stagnated, we are at a point where living in the city threatens to become unaffordable for many people.

• Essential professions such as nurses, teachers or catering workers are slowly but surely being pushed out of the city, that nevertheless needs them to keep it running.
• Vulnerable groups are no longer getting by and are being pushed out of our city. But singles, single parents or the elderly are also among those for whom it is becoming increasingly impossible to rent or buy anything.
• Brussels is heading for Parisian or London conditions, where people cannot divorce for fear of ending up on the streets.

The result of this pressure on the housing market is an increasing urban exodus and urban sprawl: the unaffordability of the city leads to an urbanisation of the periphery around Brussels, with all the ensuing harmful mobility and environmental problems.

We really want to make a difference with our approach to make Brussels an affordable and liveable city again.

What does Vooruit.brussels want?

Our programme promotes a resolutely different vision and approach to housing and urban development, supported by international insights and examples. We argue for smart densification of our city that is socially inclusive and strengthens our climate resilience.

Massive investment in social and public housing

• We reform urban planning charges by making it mandatory to use them for social housing in rich municipalities that do not have 15% social housing.
• In large property developments, 25% of the housing must be social housing.

Investment in new housing types

• Housing for key workers on the London model, where we reserve some of the housing for people with essential occupations.
• Develop more cooperatives and Community Land Trusts
• Invest in new housing types adapted to Brussels' needs: kangaroo housing, housing projects for single parents.

No more selling of public land & smart densification to avoid urban sprawl

• Densify the 'second crown', with a focus on mobility hubs while de-densifying the densely built-up neighbourhoods and making them greener. We want more solidarity between rich and poor municipalities.
• Not just cramming buildings everywhere and mineralising areas, but rather: gentle densification (i.e. no tower blocks, but smart densification in height while maintaining sufficient green and recreational space in the immediate vicinity).
• We call a halt to the sale of public land, except in industrial areas.

Tackling vacancy

• Better reporting procedure and central database, stricter fines, and active prosecution policy
• Stimulate temporary use of vacant spaces
• Speed up conversion of offices to housing and other functions

Regulating the rental market

• Keep rents from rising beyond inflation, freeze prices for 'energy sieves'.
• We give the Joint Rent Commission jurisdictional power, and we link increased subsidies and tax breaks to the voluntary adoption of conventioned rents.
• We adapt the housing code to strengthen tenants' rights, and we automate the allocation of the rent allowance.

Collective investments in energy renovation

• Shift from individual to collective approach:
  • Roll out neighbourhood renovation programmes with a focus on poorer neighbourhoods
  • Large-scale isolation programme with 'payback via the meter' principle
  • Poor owners who rent out can temporarily hand over their property, with the government renovating and then renting it out until investment is recovered
• We are catching up in rolling out heat networks in new neighbourhoods or large projects.

How will we pay for this?

• Our programme provides the necessary resources to pay for it. We want a more equitable tax system: higher registration duties from the second, unoccupied dwelling and a fundamental reform of inheritance tax.
• We call for a European housing fund and an associated housing programme that focuses on building and renovating public housing along the lines of the relance instruments in the aftermath of the corona pandemic and the energy crisis.

Investing in affordable housing is the essential prerequisite for economic growth.

Learn more?

Discover our full affordable housing & urban renewal programme here.