2023-08-23 10:08:00
The creation of Louvain-la-Neuve on the stale heights of Ottignies offered the “small” Brabant town a new image and future, materialized in 1977 by the official recognition of its name as that of the nascent university town.
The first academic year took place in October 1972. The auditoriums and community kots were still surrounded by building sites in a muddy landscape. Since then, thousands of square meters have come out of the ground – and slabs – residential, in particular in the form of single-family houses and apartment buildings! “Residential outside the community really started at the end of the 80s, beginning of the 90s”, says Maxime Bouserez, the very prolific boss of the Promimo agency, which has 36 years of presence in the university city. “I sold nearly a third of the residential Louvain-la-Neuve”, he says emphatically, acknowledging that there was, then, “little competition”.
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A village turned city
Unsurprisingly, these many new developments propelled the municipality of Ottignies-LLN into the top of the Walloon top 20 in terms of property prices recorded by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office: 4th place in 1975 as in 2015, 3rd in 1980 and in 1990, and very rarely beyond 10th place.
“The town of Ottignies, which was a “village” or almost at the time, experienced a singular, exceptional event, with the creation of Louvain-la-Neuve on its territory, likes to recall Emmanuel Estienne, notary in Ottignies -LLN. Especially since the entity has achieved a balance between students and residents. It was moreover one of the reflections carried out by the visionary founders of LLN not to be a university city but a city sheltering a university. A city that is part of history, combining futuristic development and medieval plan. Nothing has been left to chance, with a multiplication of centers of life, culture, shops, businesses, sports, studies… And developments are still awaited.”
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In Louvain-la-Neuve, residential excluding community kots really took off at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s.
Its success is also real estate. “The LLN market is above all a rental market whose rents are on the rise and are reaching Brussels levels,” adds Maxime Bouserez. It is necessary to count between 1,200 and 1,300 euros for an unfurnished 2-bedroom apartment in the very recent Courbevoie project and around 1,000 euros in the other districts. “The city mainly attracts investors.” Who agree to pay the price.
Wavre facing Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve. ©IPM Graphics
“The studios at LLN are comparatively very expensive”, continues the real estate agent, who mentions a price range between 170,000 and 200,000 euros for resale, “while in 2005, a new studio cost between 80,000 and 85,000 euros”. For a 2-bedroom apartment, it is necessary to count, always on resale, a minimum of 400,000 euros, parking included. And more than 500,000 euros for a house, a rare pearl “of which the oldest are less than 35 years old”. “If the advertised price is correct, they sell out in 15 days, 3 weeks maximum.”
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Wavre does not only attract those excluded from the neo-Louvan market
Its close neighbor, Wavre, might have suffered. Surprisingly, from 1973 to 1995, their median price lines are quite similar. From 1995, Ottignies-LLN distanced itself. But less than you might think. We also find the city of Maca in the same Walloon top 20 of Statbel. Generally behind Ottignies-LLN, but sometimes ahead, as in 1985 and 1995.
“The median prices concern all of the two entities, specifies the notary. It’s not Louvain-la-Neuve versus Wavre, but Ottignies-LLN versus Wavre.” “The two markets hold together more than you think, continues the boss of the Promimo agency. It depends on the segments. In Wavre, the prices of studios, apartments or houses with two or three facades are on average lower, but the properties undoubtedly require more renovations. On the other hand, the new – which is rare in Wavre – is almost at the same price as in Louvain-la-Neuve. Except for luxury, marginal in the student city and therefore more expensive. He recently sold an apartment on the lake side for almost a million euros. Unheard of at LLN!”
Wavre defends itself because it has its business parks and residential developments, and therefore its aficionados. “Its audience is not only made up of those excluded from the neo-Louvan market, insists Maxime Bouserez. It is a city that its people love and want to stay in. Many young couples find what they are looking for here, i.e. a house between 300,000 and 400,000 euros, excluding renovation costs.”
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Brussels has no more impact on one or the other
The proximity of Brussels would not play more on Wavre than on LLN or Ottignies. “All the entities in the region benefit from it, according to their infrastructures and their respective attractions”, insists Maxime Bouserez. Even though “Ottignies and Louvain-la-Neuve have more significant attractive centers”, tempers Emmanuel Estienne, evoking, for one, a railway station among the most dynamic in Wallonia, a hospital, a shopping center…, for one the other, a future multimodal station (trains, buses, RER, etc.), regional shopping, etc.
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What differentiates Ottignies-LLN from Wavre is not the proximity to Brussels or the financial accessibility of prospective buyers.
“What differentiates Ottignies-LLN from Wavre is not the proximity to Brussels or the financial accessibility of prospective buyers, adds the notary. One continues to develop and the other does not. I think Wavre has ossified. In the relatively recent past, there has been a form of abandonment of the urban center in favor of a strong development of subdivisions on the outskirts which gives the city the impression of a dormitory city. The buildings are interesting and consistent, but more and more businesses are closing, which is worrying. I have the feeling that Wavre is a war late and must embark on a catch-up war, a counter-offensive. In any case, we should expect that, in the years to come, the gap between the two municipalities will widen.”
Louvain-la-Neuve, an investment product
“Since the beginning of the 90s, and except in 2001 when the collapse of the towers froze all the real estate markets in the world, prices in Louvain-la-Neuve have never wavered, assures Maxime Bouserez (Promomo agency). Because it’s a car-free city and there has been a lot of new construction – it’s a fairly easy market for small developers who are building 6, 8, 10 or 12 apartments –, but above all because it’s an investment product.” In the 80s and 90s, even though the offer was still cheap, “we had to thwart its detractors, fight to attract investors, reassure them regarding the location, the long lease, the interference from the university, seeking them beyond the academic circle or former students… But since 2005, with the extension of the slab and the construction of the Esplanade and rue Charlemagne, nothing has stopped the market , both in sales and in resales.”
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