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New measures to improve rental housing market
Flanders’ housing minister Freya Van den Bossche has announced new measures aimed at helping renters find affordable accommodation. Based on the first results of the Housing Survey, the government, said Van den Bossche, has to do more to assist people in the rental sector. As a first step, a new regulation from July 1 will allow low-income families to pay off the two-month deposit in instalments.
Two-thirds of those questioned in the 2013 Housing Survey said that they had difficulties when it came to paying the deposit. “People have to pay two months’ rent on top of the first month,” said Van den Bossche. “For many, that’s too much all at once.”
The new regulation establishes a central deposit fund, which will accept renters’ deposits in instalments and pay landlords if the property is damaged in the meantime.
The survey also showed that rents have risen in Flanders in recent years, from an average of €512 per month in 2005 (at the time of the last Housing Survey) to €581 in 2013. The number of families that experience difficulties paying the monthly rent has gone up from 9.7% in 2005 to 11.3% in 2013.
Van den Bossche is also looking at new ways to improve the supply of rental housing now that housing policy has been devolved to the regions. One proposal is to introduce a tax incentive for landlords who rent out decent accommodation at an affordable rate.
Comments
If the issue of renting a house, an apartment or only a spare room is the deposit required, it is easy to solve.
It seems that the Goverment does not want to see or (maybe does not know?) what has been going on "under the carpet" and it has been increasing, especially considering the financial crisis. There are many "owners" of houses and/or apartments who rent or sublet a house, an apartment or spare rooms.
There are many websites and pages on Facebook where "the black businesses occur". The "landlords" to avoid paying taxes or "people who are subleting" announc that they can not provide "domicile". So, for the Belgium law there are in one side: many invisible tenants/human beings and in the other side "landlords" who do not declare the rental on their taxes.
Mostly, the tenants under this condition are students and/or immigrants (who already have many other obstacles to face on a daily basis).
Many people find themselves in a situation without other option.
Many landlords also are under unemployment benefits and for this reason get afraid of declare the rental and so lose those benefits.
It is not necessary to put this situation in the context of the financial crisis where there are many people looking for a job and so, with a very short budget. When there is an option to rent a spare room at the price of 450, 500, sometimes 600, 700 euros, and still to share the house with 2, 3, even 5 more people; the tenants get what it is possible putting themselves in a "blackmailing situation" to avoid losing an opportunity of work.
So, many people, even immigrants for others European countries in Belgium have to face such issue which, for my point-of-view, causes damages to the social system of the country, as well as to themselves once they do not have even the right to declare where they live.
Is it fair?