Waiting almost 12 years for social housing in Brussels

In Molenbeek, the waiting time for social housing is an astounding 14 years. But the Brussels average doesn’t score much better, according to research by Brussels N-VA MP Mathias Vanden Borre: “That waiting time is now almost 12 years, with outliers of up to 15 years for certain types of homes. Some families have been on a waiting list since the 1990s. That truly beggars belief.”

The Brussels housing market has a number of structural problems, such as vacancy, slum rental, slum landlords and a lack of social housing. In 2021, no fewer than 133,000 Brussels residents were on the waiting list, over 10.5% of the entire population of the Region. Moreover, since the beginning of 2020, the Brussels waiting list has grown by 8.3% (+ 3,909 households). This shows that the many resources that go to the housing corporations are not used efficiently.

No control whatsoever

“There is a lack of control in Brussels regarding compliance with obligations to rent social housing, such as income requirements, language proficiency requirements and owning a home abroad. Social fraud is not checked. Social housing must go to people who really are entitled to it and must act as a springboard and contribute to activation and integration. The door must be firmly shut to any form of preferential treatment or favouritism. This vision is missing in State Secretary Ben Hamou’s plans,” says Mathias Vanden Borre.

N-VA wants simplification of institutions

With 19 municipalities, 19 Public Social Welfare Centres (OCMWs), 16 social housing corporations and 24 social rental offices, all with their own buildings and their own procedures, it is simply not possible to conduct an efficient policy. In Flanders, a fundamental reorganisation of the social housing landscape is underway: the social housing corporations and rental offices are being reformed into housing corporations. “I am calling for a similar simplification of the institutions so that the construction, management and provision of social housing are centralised. Every resident of Brussels must receive an equal service, in contrast to today’s fragmented policy,” Mathias Vanden Borre concludes.