Belgium to Evict Social Housing Tenants for Undisclosed Foreign Property Ownership

In addition to the eviction, these families must repay the social reduction they have benefited from for several years, reports Flandre info. The amount can reach 35,000 euros for some families. Their social rental contract has already been terminated. These sanctions come after an investigation into the files of 1,135 social tenants in Lierre to whom a letter had been sent. They were warned that they are prohibited from owning real estate abroad. "We received no reaction," says Marc Vanden Eynde, director of the Lierre Housing Company.

In the crosshairs, 59 names communicated to an investigation office, corresponding to tenants from Slovakia, Georgia, Poland, Spain, Morocco, the Dominican Republic and Turkey. In total, 25 cases have already proven to be "positive" while 9 other cases are under investigation. Five other tenants have "limited assets" that is to say a house or apartment they have inherited with other people. They will be given a one-year deadline to sell this property.

This investigation that the city of Lierre has entrusted to a Dutch office is justified by the fact that the waiting list for social housing is long. "We have 1,135 homes and there are 1,900 people on the waiting list," says Marc Vanden Eynde. The supply is therefore absolutely not sufficient.

The Flemish Minister of Finance, Matthias Diependaele, is determined to have real estate abroad checked. An amount of 5 million will be released each year to support social housing companies willing to have asset investigations carried out abroad.