social housing
Flanders demanded an overview of all the bank accounts of candidate social tenants, but according to the National Bank, this is “contrary” to the law.
Since January 1, prospective social tenants have had to submit to the so-called ‘means test’, a somewhat controversial measure introduced by Flemish Minister of Housing Matthias Diependaele (N-VA). In concrete terms, prospective tenants must indicate how much money they have in their bank accounts.
A family consisting of two adults and two children may not have a total of more than 43,000 euros to qualify for social housing.
A CAP extract – to be requested by the prospective tenant from the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) – showing all bank accounts of those involved had to serve as proof.
But that flyer no longer holds true: the NBB – alarmed by the sudden increase in the number of applications – prohibits social housing companies from using CAP extracts any longer to screen prospective tenants. Diependaele confirms this, after MPs Joke Schauvliege (CD&V) and Maxim Veys (Vooruit) raised the alarm about this.
Schauvliege is “not amused about the state of affairs. As a party, we are not against the means test that Minister Diependaele has introduced. But the way it is organized in practice wins anything but a beauty prize. Was there no consultation with the National Bank about this?
According to Diependaele, no man has been spared, although his cabinet admits that the solution that has now been found is not “the ideal one”. From now on, prospective tenants must “declare on their honour” which bank accounts they have and how much money is in those accounts. If a conclusive solution is found in the near future – there is consultation about this with Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) – the statements will be checked for honor: “If it then turns out that there are fraudulent statements, the rental agreement can be cancelled.”
