Belgian Party Calls for Stricter Social Housing Rules Amid Foreign Property Concerns

While one of the conditions for the allocation of public housing, in addition to income, is indeed not to own property abroad, a study conducted between March 2021 and December 2022 by the Flemish Minister of Housing reveals housing fraud. Out of 677 investigations carried out, 322 (i.e. 48% of them) "have demonstrated the existence of a property abroad," reports La Dernière Heure. In detail, the investigators discovered that 295 people own real estate in Morocco, 243 in Turkey and 68 in Italy.

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These are worrying figures according to MP Yves Evrard (MR). "These figures should concern us," warns the elected official who questioned the Walloon Minister of Housing, Christophe Collignon, in the Committee on Local Authorities. "In Wallonia, we don’t know these figures and we have the impression that we prefer not to know anything. With us, only an affidavit established at the time of the application for public housing is required. This raises questions given that it stops there. And ultimately, it can be to the detriment of those who really need it."

The elected official wonders: "Wouldn’t there be grounds here to intensify the fight against social housing fraud, which ultimately penalizes the many candidate tenants? Indeed, more than 40,000 families are waiting for public housing, it would be a step forward in terms of social justice." "This is an unacceptable situation in terms of the balance of the rental market and access to social housing for those who are entitled to it," he continues, calling for a better match between the needs of underprivileged families and the number of existing public housing.

His party’s wish is the adoption of the Flemish model, "where it is no longer allowed to apply for social housing if one has significant savings (a person who has more than 25,580 euros in savings or 40,940 euros for a couple or a single person with a child)." "Furthermore, there should be an update on how social housing is entrusted, particularly in terms of the allocation of the latter, which could free some up," explains Yves Evrard. "In Wallonia, only an affidavit at the time of the application is required, which is not enough. I think a more regular analysis is needed, for example every five years, this declaration should not last 10 years either, because the risk is not zero