A multidisciplinary committee that launches recommendations to adjust the policy is “crucial to make affordable housing possible for every household in the future,” says Marc Dillen of Embuild Vlaanderen, which represents the construction sector in Flanders. They calculated who can still buy a home in Flanders: Building land is becoming more and more exclusive.”
“On average, a house in Flanders costs almost 350,000 euros. For an apartment, that comes to almost 270,000 euros. Anyone who wants to buy a house of roughly 300,000 euros must earn at least around 4,000 euros net. In addition, you must have 65,000 euros of your own resources and it is smart to provide an extra budget for an energy renovation. At an interest rate of 3%, you then have a mortgage loan burden of approximately 1,300 euros. In this way you respect the recommendation not to provide more than a third of your income for your loan burden”, Embuild Vlaanderen – the former Construction Confederation – calculates for us in a press release.
Embuild Vlaanderen points out that, in contrast to other European countries such as Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, where considerable decreases have been recorded, purchase prices for houses and apartments in Flanders are still rising.
“According to the National Bank, the inelasticity of our real estate market is one of the reasons. The housing supply has both physical and regulatory limitations and cannot adequately respond to demand. Because there are more and smaller households. The energy transition and the recent renovation obligation will also have an impact. The cost price of energy-intensive homes will rise less quickly, but new owners will have to provide a renovation budget.”
The more expensive the scarce building land, the more expensive real estate in Flanders.
Building land is scarce and expensive
But it is mainly the price of building land that kills us, Embuild concludes on the basis of a study by the National Bank. “The more expensive the scarce building land, the more expensive real estate in Flanders. In the meantime, the new Spatial Policy Plan focuses on less space for housing and on a large-scale densification operation. That makes building plots even more exclusive: the location value is more expensive in and around cities than elsewhere.”
Multidisciplinary committee
“In addition, Embuild Vlaanderen notes that Flemish Brabant and Antwerp are finalizing provincial spatial policy plans, while the global Spatial Policy Plan for Flanders is not yet in force. And it is currently only about a strategic vision for Flanders. In the meantime, these provincial policy plans are proceeding to a drastic reduction of the space provided for housing. Without providing sufficient and valid alternatives elsewhere for the many extra households in the coming years.”
That is why Embuild Vlaanderen advocates a multidisciplinary committee that monitors everything that weighs on affordable housing and can launch recommendations to adjust the policy. “Affordable housing is a multidisciplinary issue. Because scarce space, a heated rental and real estate market, usage restrictions, complex permit procedures, the increasing number of requirements regarding energy, water management, air quality, etc. weigh on the cost price. That is why a global vision is needed,” says Marc Dillen of Embuild Vlaanderen.
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