2023-12-26 18:10:00
The Flemish government will also reward working tenants by providing them with a transition bonus of up to 2,500 euros net when they decide to move from public housing to private housing. A third measure which will limit the duration of leases for public housing will also come into force in 2025. Each social housing unit can be rented for a maximum period of nine years. After this period, people whose income exceeds the set limit should lose their right to these low-rent housing units.
“Stigma”
In Wallonia, this type of measure is not planned. The Walloon Minister in charge of Housing, Christophe Collignon (PS) argues that “this Flemish policy consists of considering that the fact of not having a job is a form of choice, not an imposition”. For him, this measure “will reinforce the precariousness of the less well-off”. The minister considers that the measures taken by the government under this legislature aim, on the contrary, at “a healthy social mix which levels society upwards rather than a stigmatization of precarious family situations”.
To benefit from public housing in the south of the country, you must not exceed certain income ceilings. This ceiling is set at 48,200 euros gross per year for a single person, increased by 2,900 euros per dependent child. And it is set at 58,300 euros for a household made up of several people, increased by 2,900 euros per dependent child. There is also a series of situations which give rise to so-called “priority” points. Situations which give entitlement to these points are, for example, divorced status, a disabled dependent child, loss of employment, etc.
Wallonia buys private housing
Let us point out, however, that there is a lack of housing in Wallonia to meet current demand. It is estimated that 40,000 households are currently on a waiting list for public housing. To try to reduce this number, the Walloon government has launched a vast program of construction, renovation and acquisition of housing to be placed on the public rental market. But it will take some time to start seeing the benefits in the job market. On the side of the Walloon government, however, we do not have any statistics allowing us to know the number of unemployed people who live in public housing.
In Flanders, 176,000 people on waiting list
In Flanders, the decision of the regional government is not to everyone’s taste either. Several organizations reacted during the day on Tuesday. The Vlaams Huurdersplatform (VHP) and Initia, organizations defending the rights of social tenants, believe that by “granting people who work a privilege of access to these low-rent housing, to the detriment of those without jobs, the Minister leaves the most vulnerable people on the sidelines.” Josy Verstichele of the VHP adds that “if workers receive priority, other people seeking social housing will no longer be taken into account”. “They will then have no other choice but to turn to the private market, where it is particularly difficult to find quality housing at affordable rent,” he is indignant.
Let us point out that in Flanders, 176,000 people are on the waiting list to obtain public housing. For associations defending social tenants, the decision of the Flemish government aims above all “to take our eyes off the real problem”, considering that additional housing must instead be built.
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