Life is much more expensive for singles than for two-income couples. I’ve been looking for a ‘normal’ house to buy, renovate and upgrade for a while now. I have a decent wage, but as a single person I can save less than most couples I know, because I have to bear all the costs alone. And then European Central Bank (ECB) announces rate hike arrived, and the National Bank (NBB) arrived with its Financial Stability Report 2022where a particular recommendation stood out.
After all, the National Bank recommends that it is more difficult to provide loans for houses that are less energy-efficient† You read that right: while there is a great need for a more affordable home, it would become even more difficult to get hold of a house. Rode? The NBB fears that people will no longer be able to pay off their loans due to higher energy prices. Add to that the more expensive loans due to the interest rate increases and buying a house becomes a mission impossible.
energy guzzlers
Buying a home of their own is gradually becoming unaffordable for young people. Especially if they are single and don’t get a big bag of money from home. In general, banks are also more difficult against single earners. The own contribution must be constantly higher, while the average price for a house in Belgium continues to rise. Buying a cheaper home and refurbishing it gradually is often the only solution. The purchase of houses to be renovated should then be encouraged and not discouraged. That’s not just a good thing for buyers and sellers. By upgrading old buildings, the energy guzzlers of homes will eventually become a thing of the past. And so the NBB no longer has to worry about whether people can still pay their loans. Everyone happy.
Soon we will have to hope for programs like Bought blind to get a home of your own
Renovation also requires investments. Quite a bit of budget is involved. You often end up with an account between 10,000 and 100,000 euros. If you expect that young people, starters and singles will be able to cough up such amounts just like that, then you have very high expectations. That group is being targeted again. Often people need a apply for an additional loan, which will also become more expensive by the new ECB measures.
Ticket to poverty
Finally, there is a lot of discussion in Wetstraat about the importance of renovating and owning your own home, as an investment and as a means of prevention against poverty. In the meantime, the housing bonus continues to apply to the second home, but not to the first. The Flemish government wants to encourage renovation with renovation premiums, among other things to make homes more energy-efficient. But you have to pay the costs in advance. There is often a shrug of the shoulders: 10,000 euros is not that much money after all and otherwise you have to borrow a little extra. But if it becomes more difficult to borrow for your home, and you therefore have to add even more equity, then it becomes a very complicated story. You don’t have to be a poverty expert to know that loan on loan in combination with even more input from your own reserves is a ticket to poverty for many.
Soon we will have to hope for programs like Homemade of Bought blind to buy your own home. And then it will be an enormous challenge to create an energy-efficient and affordable housing market. In the meantime I search – almost hopelessly – to find a house for myself.
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