There are around 4,500 "unlawfully" vacant homes in Brussels, according to new research conducted by ULB and VUB.
The study was commissioned by Brussels Housing Minister Nawal Ben Hamou (PS) and provides the first qualitative data of its kind. The report, published by Le Soir on Monday, concludes that while the problem of vacant properties exists, it is not as serious as previously imagined.
Beginning in 2021, researchers first cross-referenced data such as water usage and energy bills to estimate that there were between 17,000 and 25,400 vacant residencies in the Brussels-Capital Region, 10,000 of which were "suspicious". Out of a test sample of 5,000 residencies, 342 were deemed illegally unoccupied (to keep a residential property vacant violates the Brussels Housing Code).
Using this model, the report found that between 0.7% and 4.6% of Brussels residential properties qualify as illegally vacant. Between 0.2% and 1.6% of these cases can be punished by law – so between 720 and 9,000 apartments or houses. Researchers believe that the market is therefore deprived of about 4,500 homes given its population density.
Down to the commune
For the first time ever, the Brussels-Capital Region penalised a landlord for leaving a residential property vacant last November. Hamou told Le Soir that a growing number of similar cases were in the pipeline.
However, it is ultimately the commune's responsibility to hold landlords of vacant homes accountable. 16 out of the 19 Brussels communes have employed a housing referent who is responsible for identifying disused properties. Only Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Watermael-Boitsfort have failed to do so.
In Etterbeek, authorities are turning to a public management law which allows public powers to take over vacant buildings. The mechanism has never been applied.
"No one had ever dared to take the risk for the simple reason that once the work had been carried out by the local authority, the owner could come forward and regain control of the building," explained Hamou.
Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
So far, the municipality has taken action regarding seven vacant buildings. It purchased one for a "fair price" as the ageing landlord was no longer able to take care of it. Several others were put up for sale shortly after receiving a warning.
The most recent building to come under the microscope will be renovated for €560,000, with the help of a regional loan of €470,000 sourced from previous fines on landlords.
"The lease will be for 29 years and the flats will be rented out via our property management company," said mayor of Etterbeek Vincent de Wolf (MR). "Rents will be moderate, equivalent to those charged for social housing."
