2023-08-31 11:23:23
Several real estate players are urgently calling for concrete measures to stem an unprecedented housing crisis. According to them, this will involve a redefinition of urban planning charges, support for the external insulation of buildings and a modulation of property taxation.
Embuild (formerly Construction Confederation), Federia (Federation of French-speaking real estate agents), Fednot (Federation of notaries), UPSI (Professional Union of the Real Estate Sector) and UWA (Walloon Union of Architects) met Thursday in Namur to propose concrete measures to tackle the housing crisis. “In two years, construction costs have increased by 25%, i.e. as much as between 2008 and 2019. If we add inflation to this, Walloons have lost 50% of their real estate purchasing power since 2019,” said explained Hugues Kempeneers, CEO of Embuild. “Interest rates have risen in two years from 1.2 to 4%. Citizens spend an average of 40% of their income on rent or credit. Half of the housing stock was built before 1945 and the renovations are not fast enough,” he added.
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Real estate players are sounding the alarm and have sent a memorandum to all Walloon ministers. Objective, to take concrete measures to stem the housing crisis. According to them, it is necessary to rethink urban planning charges to reduce the cost of construction, support the energy improvement of buildings via tax incentives and put housing back at the heart of Walloon policies. “It takes between four and five years to obtain a building permit, it’s prohibitive”, confided Olivier Carrette, Managing Director of UPSI. “However, we need to develop public-private partnerships and increase supply to lower prices. In one year, the demand for mortgage loans fell by 36%. Access to housing becomes problematic. Given the rise in construction costs and the interest rate, the ability to acquire has been reduced by half in four years,” he concluded.
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