Of the 400 housing units planned to help get homeless people off the streets in Brussels, the Capital Region has succeeded in producing just 12, La Libre Belgique reports.
'Housing First', a project inspired by a similar initiative in the United States, aimed to get homeless people off the streets and give them sustainable housing and social support. In 2021, the Brussels-Capital Region set itself the goal of reaching the 400 unit target, launching a call for projects with the Social Real Estate Agencies (AIS).
Unfortunately for the Region, no proposals were received under this programme. A year later, the call for the project was adapted and relaunched. Once again, the initiative failed to attract any interest from the private sector.
A third call for projects delivered limited results. This ultimately resulted in projects to house just 12 homeless people in 2022, according to Nawal Ben Hamou, Secretary of State of the Brussels-Capital Region responsible for Housing and Equal Opportunities.
According to Laurence Libon, coordinator of the Federation of Social Real Estate Agencies, AIS did not accept many projects because the mechanism for taking over housing and allocating it to homeless people was "too rigid and did not correspond to the realities on the ground."
This flop has received scathing criticism in the Brussels Parliament. "The intention was to mobilise at least 400 housing units using social rental agencies. These results are totally insufficient," said N-VA MP Mathias Vanden Borre.
Local initiatives
In response to the criticism, Brussels Minister for Social Action, Alain Maron, argued that housing for homeless people was nevertheless created outside of the framework of AIS, but noted that the Region had struggled to secure empty housing.
Indeed, while the proposed cooperation with the private sector had failed to deliver results, a call for projects aimed at local municipalities and CPAS has provided more results.
In total, local authorities from Anderlecht and Watermael-Boitsfort, as well as CPAS in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe and Etterbeek say that 25 housing units are set to be created. €1.2 million were allocated to these projects.
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Including these CPAS and municipal efforts, Maron claims that the Housing First programme offered 282 places in the Brussels Region in 2023, compared to 109 in 2019. By 2024, the Minister plans to reach 311 places – still falling considerably short of the 400 originally planned for this year.
State Secretary Ben Hamou says that following the difficulties with AIS, new reforms will be planned to find sustainable housing solutions for rough sleepers. This is set to be addressed by the government next month.
