Property
In its housing plan for the elections, Open VLD presents a number of sensitive proposals. For example, project developers in certain neighborhoods should be given the opportunity to expropriate stubborn owners. “We have to go back to the core: more homes.”
“Affordable housing is an enormous challenge and we have to go back to the core of the problem: to bring down house prices, there is only one fundamental solution and that is to build more homes,” says Open VLD chairman Tom Ongena. In its housing plan, the party calls for 500,000 new homes by 2035.
To achieve this, the party is putting a number of remarkable proposals on the table in the run-up to the elections. For example, project developers in important core areas must be given the opportunity to proceed with development through expropriation, if necessary.
“Now, in urban areas, people sometimes encounter stubborn owners: they do not want to sell, but also refuse to renovate. As soon as project developers own at least 80 percent of the site, they should be able to expropriate it through the government,” it said.
Build the turbo higher
At the same time, Open VLD wants to put a turbo on higher construction through so-called district permits. Local authorities can then determine a number of criteria in advance for certain neighborhoods, such as the appearance, depth and number of floors. As soon as project developers comply, a notification obligation is sufficient to start construction. The liberals make no secret of the fact that this is mainly to increase their heights more quickly. “In urban and urbanized areas, the district permit is used to harmonize the building height in building blocks (upwards),” it says.
“If we want more homes, we simply have to use space more efficiently in existing neighborhoods,” emphasizes Chairman Ongena. “That means extra floors and it also means that some fermettes will be replaced by two- or three-family houses or even ten apartments. That will simply be necessary, although other parties do not always dare to say so.”
