Flanders Fines Social Housing Tenants for Lack of Dutch Language Skills

In response to a written question from MP Guy D’haeseleer (Vlaams Belang), Flemish Housing Minister Matthias Diependaele specified that in 2019 and during the first half of 2020, about fifty tenants did not have "sufficient knowledge" of Dutch, reports Belga. An administrative fine of 50 or 100 euros was imposed on fifteen of them.

"This requirement is a very important aspect of social housing for us. A basic knowledge of Dutch is primarily useful for the tenant himself in order to understand his rights and duties," explained Mr. Diependaele.

In Flanders, knowledge of Dutch has been a requirement for social housing tenants since the introduction of a provision in the legislation by the previous Flemish government led by nationalist Geert Bourgeois.