Flanders Uncovers Widespread Social Housing Fraud Linked to Overseas Property Ownership

Flanders has invested 1 million euros in this investigation operation deployed in 22 countries including Morocco and has already collected more than 2 million euros. The investigation continues and the Flemish government could further benefit from this hunt for fraudsters, reports La Dernière Heure, recalling that in Flanders, as in Wallonia and Brussels, it is forbidden to rent social housing while owning a house or land in another country. The beneficiary of social housing must first prove that he has modest income.

In total, 153 social rental contracts have already been terminated and 2,001,549 euros recovered. The investigation revealed that the fraudsters own houses in Turkey (156), Morocco (115) and Italy (46), but also in other Belgian provinces such as Limburg (196), East Flanders (74) and Antwerp (32). In Flanders, the rental of social housing costs 300 euros, compared to 700 euros on the market. The difference (400 euros) is paid by the Flemish region. According to the justices of the peace, a fraudster must reimburse this difference multiplied by the number of undue months, with a limit of 5 to 10 years. The collected amount is then paid back to the housing companies, which use it to renovate or build new houses.

Flanders has suspected these social housing frauds since 2017 and has finally decided to conduct its investigations by recruiting private companies. In 2018, the Antwerp-based Woonhaven, the largest Flemish social housing company, invited its fraudulent tenants to report and regularize their situation within a year. After this deadline, it began to evict them, after the approval of the justices of the peace. "We had not thought that the figures of fraud would be so important. There are currently more than 100 social housing companies in Flanders and so far only 36 have implemented this investigation system," said Mathias Diependaele (N-VA), Minister of Housing.

And he added: "This program will first give us the opportunity to give housing to those who really need it... It is important for the tenants, but also for the rest of the Flemings who have the right to know what is being done with public money. The Flemings want to show solidarity, but with the people who need it, not with those who do not deserve it. They want an honest social system [...] I specify that these checks are always carried out with a justice of the peace. This allows us to verify that the checks are not made on an ethnic or racial basis. This system is not discriminatory."