The government wants to put in place a moratorium on home evictions during the winter. This would therefore prevent landlords from kicking out a deadbeat tenant. This is a first: private property is also concerned. The region says it will create a fund to compensate injured owners.
Evicting a tenant, in particular because he does not pay his rent, is completely legal. Each year in Brussels, 5,000 requests for expulsion are addressed to the justice of the peace. Belgium is the third country in Europe where tenants are evicted the most, behind Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.
The Brussels government wants a winter moratorium, that is to say prohibit evictions between November 1 and March 15 in social, public and private housing. “It is above all to guarantee the right to housing, to avoid leaving the housing of these most precarious people, and above all to avoid situations of homelessness in our region.“, indicates Nawal Ben Hamou, Brussels State Secretary for Housing.
Completely disrupt the balance between the rights of landlords and tenants
The project goes badly on the side of the owners. “We are never consulted on a whole series of texts. These are unilateral reports that are made, and in a very specific sense, which is to completely break the balance between the rights of landlords and tenants, and this, for the benefit of tenants. But we will not hesitate, if necessary, to introduce any appeal“, reacts Olivier Hamal, president of the National Union of owners.
The owners would be compensated via a fund
The Brussels government assures it: the owners will receive the equivalent of the rents due during the four and a half months of the moratorium. How? Through a compensation fund. “We are going to draw on a fund that collects fines for unsanitary housing, unoccupied housing, and also administrative fines linked to discrimination in housing. So the budget is available, it can be financed and it is feasible“, specifies Nawal Ben Hamou.
Government estimates
Controls will also be reinforced and fines increased to supply this solidarity fund. This would bring in 590,000 euros per year, while compensating owners in Brussels would cost 470,000 euros per year, according to estimates.
The Brussels government promises to consult the unions of owners and tenants before the vote in Parliament within a few months.
