Secretary of State for Housing
Faced with the scale of the affordable housing crisis, we need to be creative and diversify our ways of responding to the needs of Brussels families looking for quality housing at a decent price.
This is the aim of the Housing Emergency Plan, an ambitious plan adopted in December 2020 that relies on different levers:
- Accelerating the construction of social housing, in particular by setting up an intelligent and balanced partnership with the private sector aimed at acquiring housing that meets the needs of the social sector.
- Renovating existing social housing in order to reduce the carbon footprint of housing in Brussels, as well to reduce energy consumption and costs for tenants.
- Reforming the allocation of rent allowance to make it quicker and simpler for tenants on the private market waiting for social housing and the introduction of a new removal and rehousing allowance for the most vulnerable groups, such as the homeless or women who are victims of violence
- The introduction of the social rent system, which enables tenants of municipal housing or housing by public social welfare centres to benefit from a rent as if they were occupying social housing.
- Strengthening the supply of affordable housing through the Social Real Estate Agencies. Tenants benefit from below-market rents and appropriate social support.
- The introduction of a winter moratorium suspending evictions of tenants between November 1st and March 15th and compensating landlords.
- Revising the Housing Code to make the right to housing ever more effective through major legal amendments.
- Setting up a joint rent committee to examine the fairness of the rent charged.
This work is being carried out in close collaboration with the SLRB/BGHM, Bruxelles Logement/Brussel Huisvesting and the Brussels Housing Fund.