Hardly any screening of foreign properties owned by Brussels social tenants

The answer to a question from Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre shows that in 2023-2024, only six social lease agreements were terminated due to ownership of a (foreign) property.  “In his response, State Secretary Ben Hamou (PS party) confirmed that there is no real screening for owning foreign property because the necessary cooperation agreements are lacking. However, Flanders has shown that screening done by research agencies is indeed possible. Unfortunately, tackling social fraud is completely inadequate in Brussels.”

The six lease agreements terminated due to owning property are most likely only the tip of the iceberg. According to the figures, this concerns one home in Belgium, two abroad and three in an unspecified location. The Secretary of State says he cannot indicate exactly where the properties are located. Moreover, no funds were recovered in those six fraud cases, allegedly because the termination of their agreement was applied as a sanction. “That is wrong, because the social tenants can thus simply retain the unjustly obtained social discount on the rent. The 16 property companies are failing in their duty to screen this. There is an urgent need for a thorough anti-fraud policy in Brussels’ already overburdened social housing sector.”

Fraud

“The Secretary of State hides behind the fact that (foreign) properties must be declared. Of course, this argument completely ignores the fact that the issue is fraud. He also says that knowledge of foreign properties is insufficient because there are no cooperation agreements (which must be concluded federally). That is precisely why you need active screening. But unfortunately, enforcement remains completely nonexistent,” says Vanden Borre.

Zero euros recovered

“I submitted a proposal this parliamentary term to tackle fraud thoroughly, including by making it possible to screen the foreign properties of social tenants. In Flanders, such an anti-fraud policy is achieving results,” Vanden Borre states. Of the approximately 1,000 property ownership screenings carried out to date, almost half of the cases revealed foreign ownership. In doing this, housing corporations have already been able to recover almost EUR 3 million from fraudulent tenants! “The contrast with the Brussels approach is particularly stark, with virtually no screening and a total of zero euros recovered,” Vanden Borre notes.

12-year waiting list

The increasing poverty among the Brussels population, more than 60% of whom must make use of the rental market, means that ever more Brussels residents must turn to social housing. “Today, over 56,000 families are on a waiting list for social housing and have to wait an average of 12 years. It is important that existing homes go to families who are actually entitled to them,” says Vanden Borre.