The waiting list for social housing in Flanders has never been longer. Still, more than 8,000 properties stood empty in 2023, reports Het Nieuwsblad on Monday. This is almost four times the number of empty social housing units the year before.
The latest annual report of Initia Vlaanderen, the knowledge and expertise centre for social housing, shows a quadrupling of empty social houses. While over 2,100 social housing units were vacant in 2022, that figure increased to 8,090 in 2023. There are no official figures yet for 2024 or 2025, but the sector says it sees no sign of improvement.
According to Initia Vlaanderen, the main problem is the Central Registration Register (CRR). This system was introduced to centralise local databases and facilitate online registrations for social housing in Flanders. However, despite going online in early 2024, the CRR is still not functioning correctly. Housing associations and social workers often cannot access the system, which prevents the allocation of social housing.
The knowledge centre says that the major merger operation of housing companies implemented by the previous Housing minister and current Flemish minister-president, Matthias Diependaele, is further complicating the allocation process.
Faster allocations and renovations
The current Flemish Housing minister, Melissa Depraetere, says she is aware of the problem. Her cabinet has also launched a search for the root causes of increased vacancy rates, the minister added.
“We are working hard on measures to reduce the vacancy rate. For instance, vacant housing should be allocated more quickly. It is also important that we renovate vacant houses faster so that they become available again,” Depraetere said.
