Fraud in social housing puts Brussels housing policy under pressure

New revelations about a social rental agency in Saint-Josse and the operations of Foyer Anderlechtois are putting Brussels’ housing policy under serious strain. According to Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre, the facts show long-standing structural mismanagement, insufficient oversight, and a major lack of transparency within the social housing sector.

Years of abuse

The trigger is a damning audit report. It points to fraud in housing allocations, document manipulation, conflicts of interest, and a near-total absence of internal controls. Vanden Borre calls it unacceptable that such practices could occur in a sector responsible for distributing scarce social housing. He stresses that this concerns public funds as well as people who often wait years for a home.

According to Mathias Vanden Borre, this situation is no coincidence. “This is the result of years of clientelist policies by the PS. The lack of clear rules, oversight, and accountability creates room for abuse. Meanwhile, waiting lists continue to grow, and thousands of Brussels residents are left waiting ever longer for social housing,” he says.

Allocations through exception rules

Serious issues have also surfaced in Anderlecht. There, an illegal committee was involved for years in decisions granting exceptions to allocation rules. For Mathias Vanden Borre, this shows how carelessly procedures meant to guarantee fairness and transparency have been handled. “When up to a quarter of allocations are made through exceptional procedures, the system is fundamentally off track.”

The Brussels Government can no longer hide behind ongoing investigations to avoid political responsibility. “Transparency towards Parliament is a basic requirement in any democracy, especially when there are indications of fraud involving public funds,” says Mathias Vanden Borre.

A roof for Brussels

For Mathias Vanden Borre, these recent cases confirm the need for far-reaching reforms. “With our ‘A Roof for Brussels’ plan, we have already clearly outlined the reforms needed in both the private rental market and social housing policy. By simplifying and thoroughly reforming the system, we can prevent this from happening again in the future.”

In social housing, N-VA advocates, among other things, for a single efficient regional social housing company, more transparent and realistic funding, and a reform of social rent levels. The goal is to make the sector financially sustainable again. “We also want to reduce waiting lists by increasing supply, adjusting income thresholds, improving mobility within social housing, and taking a tougher stance on social fraud.”

Social housing should also be more closely linked to activation and a basic knowledge of Dutch or French, contributing to livability, safety, and integration in Brussels.

The private rental market must move away from the current conflict-driven model that pits tenants against landlords. “We need to scrap destabilising regulations that discourage investment, refocus on housing construction and renovation, and at the same time tackle vacancy, squatting, and slum landlords decisively,” explains Mathias Vanden Borre. “By restoring trust between tenants and landlords and making investment viable again, N-VA aims to increase supply and ease pressure on rental prices.”

“For years, our warnings were brushed aside. Today, the system has derailed to such an extent that fraud and abuse were able to take hold. With our ‘A Roof for Brussels’ plan, we show that things can be done differently: more transparent, fairer, and with clear accountability. Brussels deserves a housing policy that actually works,” concludes Mathias Vanden Borre.