Managers from several public service housing companies (SISPs) denounce the fact that their operating costs are increasing, while rent revenue from their social housing tenants is not increasing, La Libre Belgique reported on Tuesday.
"We have to be bold enough to say that rents should be set higher for social housing," Cédric Mahieu, Director of Comensia, a SISP that manages 3,000 housing units, told La Libre Belgique. "Or that the public authorities should put more money on the table."
Many SISPs are operating at a loss, and they pin this on the indexation of property taxes, workers' wages and the soaring costs of renovation works. Brussels State Secretary on Housing, Nawal Ben Hamou, from the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS), is reluctant to enforce a rent hike – but does not rule it out.
At the same time, public service companies are being strongly condemned by their workers for terrible working conditions and weak labour relations. Last Friday, workers filed for strike action, and on Monday morning, they protested in front of Ben Hamou's Brussels office.
19-year wait time
"The increase in rents is one avenue. But we have to explore the others," explained Hamou's cabinet for La Libre Belgique. An evaluation of each Brussels social housing company and its operations is one other avenue mentioned by the cabinet.
"We know that some SISPs are doing very well and others are not. This has to be taken into account," explained the office of Nawal Ben Hamou. "We would also need to review the way in which SISPs manage their stock and occupancy rates. Because when they have a high vacancy rate, that represents less revenue."
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Nawal Ben Hamou, Secretary of State of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for Housing and Equal Opportunities. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
Currently, there are 50,000 households on the waitlist for social housing in Brussels, and one-in-two Brussels households meet the income requirements for social housing. According to a report by Le Soir, the wait times are "surreal": seven or eight years for a studio and up to 19 years for a five-room apartment.
As the public housing sector is under pressure from multiple sides, the issue will be left for the next administration to handle, according to the Housing Secretary's cabinet. It could be a major issue in the 2024 elections.
Renovations underway
The Brussels-Capital Region is leading a vast effort to renovate public housing and make it more energy-efficient. The goal is to renovate 37,000 housing units within the next 10 years, on a budget of €900 million.
SISP managers, however, say that this is becoming untenable because of the increasing costs of materials and energy.
Aziz Sopi, General-Director of En Bord de Soignes, a public housing company which manages 1,8000 units, considers that the problem is that raising the income threshold that tenants spend on rent would help the companies with their financial problems.
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Social housing apartments in the Luchtbal neighbourhood in Antwerp. Credit: Belga / Dirk Waem
Social housing tenants do not pay a fixed amount in rent, since the rates are established as a percentage of their income. Their rates are established as a percentage of their income. Government subsidies then cover the difference.
Currently, tenants spend about 20-24% of their income on rent, but Sopi would like to see that raised to 30%.
En Bord de Soignes has been at a loss for the second year in a row, recording a €838,452 loss last year. Sopi said that, as a consequence, the company has had to choose which social housing sites will be able to benefit from renovations, as they cannot facilitate them all.
Other SISPs do not see the rent hike as a viable solution, however. Lotfi Mostefa, the President of the Anderlecht SISP tells the Belgian press that he does not want to see a rent increase as it is important to "continue to protect the tenants."