In municipalities where property prices are high, local councils will soon be able to reserve plots of land or houses for people with a connection to the municipality but risk being priced out. To this end, the Flemish government has prepared a new draft decree 'Living in your own region' (WIES).
According to Flemish Rand Minister Ben Weyts and Housing Minister Matthias Diependaele, the aim is to "put up a dam against social displacement" in expensive municipalities where people who grew up there find it difficult to acquire their own homes. According to the N-VA ministers, this is "a pressing problem" that occurs, among others, in the Vlaamse Rand – the area surrounding Brussels.
"Fewer people being able to stay in their own area undermines the social fabric and increases the risk of alienation," Weyts and Diependaele said in a joint statement. The Constitutional Court annulled an earlier WIES decree in 2013.
50 to 100% in land share
The priority policy will only be applicable to the most expensive Flemish municipalities and will allow them to provide financial assistance for between 50% and 100% of the value of the land.
The policy is designed to help people without the means to acquire a home in their own area. Applicants must meet three conditions: be registered in the relevant municipality or a neighbouring Flemish municipality for at least five consecutive years in the past 10 years, not yet own any real estate, and have a salary below a yet-to-be-determined limit.
Those buying a house through the system must live in it themselves for the first 20 years and anyone who wishes to transfer their WIES land or house must repay the financial intervention to the municipalities, which also have a pre-emption right.
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The Flemish government makes the case that the new pre-emption policy works with "objective criteria", intended to safeguard the right to housing for less wealthy people who have a link to the municipality.
The new scheme focuses on the cities and municipalities with the highest land prices in Flanders: the municipalities where the median price of a home has been the highest over the past five years as well as a number of large cities.
Local governments can reserve land that lies in allotment projects of at least 5 lots, in (conversion) projects for group housing or flats with at least 5 residential units.
