2023-10-02 15:14:00
But the due date is approaching, and Sophie has still not found a sustainable situation for her and her two children. “It’s really desperate! Rental prices are skyrocketing. And finding a house for 1,000 euros or less per month is very complicated, there aren’t many of them. And I can’t afford to spend more”, she laments.
Sophie even had to resign herself in her search: initially, this single mother was looking for a 3-bedroom house, but given the rental prices, she had no choice but to look for a 2-bedroom house: “I’m going to sacrifice myself, even if it means sleeping in my living room…”, she laments. “Housing is essential, I will give everything I have”. Especially since Sophie cannot change Region and must therefore stay in the area of Nivelles: “I still have one child studying, and the other works near Genappe. I cannot move away and go to the Ardennes, where the rents are cheaper,” she points.
According to the latest figures from the Federation of French-speaking real estate agents of Belgium (Federia) published at the beginning of September, rents have increased from 2.5% to 3.5% in 1 year, throughout the country. In Brussels, the average rent for a studio is therefore 800 euros excluding charges. For an apartment, the average price rises to 1,160 euros.
According to a recent study conducted by the non-profit association Action Vivre Ensemble, single-parent families are even more affected by the housing crisis. 83% of single-parent families are managed by women, as in Sophie’s case. And it’s “one of the most discriminated categories within the issue of the right to housing. Due to their condition, women are exposed to additional difficulties in accessing decent and affordable housing. Faced with this discrimination, the parent solo will often run out of steam in his research and ultimately risks renting an unsuitable, poorly located and/or unsanitary property.points out the study in particular.
In addition to being a single mother, Sophie has also been disabled for several years. A status that can pose a problem when looking for accommodation, she tells us. She would have already paid the price: “I was told that once the owners saw that I was disabled, my file was put aside… I find it ridiculous, I have been disabled for a few years and it will be until my pension, so I will receive the same salary as currently.”
A housing crisis ALREADY underway in our country
For Sophie, there are not enough properties to rent compared to demand. “It’s in the middle of a crisis”, she believes. Precisely, on September 2, the real estate sector sounded the alarm and challenged ministers regarding the situation in the country.
Housing has never been more inaccessible than it is now
We met Olivier Carrette, managing director of the Professional Union of the Real Estate Sector (UPSI), which is one of the federations to have alerted on the subject. “The country is already in a housing crisis. It’s a question of supply and demand: supply is decreasing, demand is very high, which means prices will continue to rise“, he warns.
According to the UPSI, there are 3 main causes of this crisis, which Olivier Carrette details:
First, regarding the professional real estate sector represented by UPSI: “There is the 20% increase in construction material costs, the indexation of wages by 10%, inflation of 5%, interest rates which have increased from 1 to 4%. The issue of permits too: in Brussels, to obtain a building permit, it takes 6 years, in Wallonia 4 years, in Flanders 2 years and 8 months. And that’s a problem“, points out Olivier Carrette. Then, “there are private investors who are still good for 80% of the apartments that are rented, and for them too, there is inflation, and high interest rates” ; And finally, “the final consumer, the average Belgian, who wishes to rent or acquire an apartment or a house, interest rates have gone from 1 to 4% in 1 year, he no longer has the means, and therefore instead of buy, for the moment, he is turning to the rental market, where there are too few properties…”
The sector therefore fears that in the future, housing will be even more inaccessible for everyone: “Everyone talks regarding the sustainability and accessibility of housing, but housing has never been as inaccessible as it is currently. This is not normal when we think that everything relating to acquired and rental housing is the main household expense. And we talk very little regarding it”, pointe l’UPSI.
To stem the housing crisis affecting Belgium, the sector is asking in particular:
More speed in granting permits and therefore administrative simplification to be able to build more housing quickly; Ensure that the measure which increases VAT to 6% on Demolition and Reconstruction is renewed; More public-private partnerships, in order to regulate rental prices.
Concretely, what has been done to try to get Wallonia out of this crisis?
“In Wallonia, as everywhere in Belgium, there is a lack of affordable and well-insulated housing. points out Christophe Collignon, Walloon Minister of Housing, who is well aware of this crisis. “It is not new, it has been a few years already. The private rental market is subject to the law of supply and demand, and therefore increases prices. However, housing is a primary right for the citizen,” he continues.
So during his legislature, the Walloon Minister of Housing tried to change things, in particular by concluding partnerships between the public and the private sector. And the budget was substantial: “We put a big envelope on the table: 100 million euros, to be able to tell our housing companies to go directly to the private market and buy properties that already exist, therefore a block of buildings or a block under construction, to be able to respond immediately to demand”, he explains.
The increase in the income level of people who can take out a social loan has also been increased in order to benefit more people. As for public housing, it takes time, specifies the minister, on average between 5 and 7 years, so they will not arrive immediately…
Ultimately, it will be necessary to regulate the rental market, he explains: “Depending on the property you are renting, in relation to its quality, the degree of energy performance… We will have to design a rent scale which will be more restrictive. This is a measure that will provide relief to households. But for that, different political agreements are needed.”he points out.
For the minister, this is a global reflection: “There is the housing crisis, but there is also an ecological transition. We must be able to insulate the building. In Wallonia, this building is very old. I think we have to ask ourselves the question of how we live tomorrow? Are we going to live in smaller, more adjoining areas? There are undoubtedly housing modes that can vary: modular, tiny houses, habitats with renovated containers… There is no ready-made solution, I think we need to open up a whole series of fields to try to meet the primary objective which is to better house the population.
For non-profit organizations in the field, the housing crisis is permanent and is not limited to the energy crisis: aid must be sustainable
Pour the non-profit organization “Walloon Rally for the Right to Housing” (RWDH), more should be done to stem the housing crisis in which Belgium finds itself. The RWDH regrets in particular, especially in the inflationary context we are experiencing:
The end of the winter moratorium for evictions which will not be renewed in Wallonia while in Brussels yes; And the fact that rent indexation will be able to resume for the lowest PEBs (still for Wallonia).
For the non-profit organization, the housing crisis is permanent and is not limited to an energy crisis, aid should therefore continue to be put in place. The RWDH also calls for rents to be regulated much more strictly in order to avoid price abuse.
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