The Flemish budget for social housing is rarely used

Of the 1.1 billion euros that the Flemish government is making available this year in loans for the construction and renovation of social housing, 194 million euros (for construction) and 257 million euros (renovation) have been allocated until September. This is clear from the figures requested by the Flemish MP Maxime Wiese (Forwett). “In other words: Minister Debendaele suffers from mismanagement,” he said. “It will not transfer money to housing.”

There have also been year-end surpluses in recent years. The remaining amount is always carried over to the next budget year. Meanwhile, the budget for construction and renovation of social housing rose to 1.77 billion euros. “In September, only 25 percent of the funds were allocated in this way,” Vis says. This leaves 1.3 billion euros for the past three months.

The backlog of expenditures is now larger compared to previous years in September.

merger

The basis is a large integration into the site. From January 2023, social housing companies are obligated to cooperate with social rental offices. This brings a lot of uncertainty. In addition, the complex procedures are no less important. For a new project, the municipality has to search for suitable land, after which all permits must be submitted.

Flemish Minister of Finance, Budget and Housing Matthias Debenelli (N-VA) acknowledges that the credits can be obtained more quickly. He points to the Corona crisis as the cause, but also to the merger. However, this reform is badly needed. The minister recently formed a working group to investigate the reason for the delay.