While more than 215,000 people await social housing across Flanders, thousands of family-sized homes house only one tenant, Het Nieuwsblaad reports.
Nearly 7% of social housing units across Flanders have multiple unoccupied bedrooms while waiting lists hit record highs and applicants now exceed 215,000 across the region.
Requesting parliamentary data from Housing Minister Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit), Flemish MP Sofie Mertens (CD&V) uncovered a sharp mismatch between housing stock and household size. Across the region, 13,284 of the 178,743 social homes (6.7%) qualify as under-occupied.
Flemish authorities define under-occupancy as a property containing at least two more bedrooms than its total number of residents, counting a couple as one occupant.
Disparities between municipalities remain stark: 83 local councils report zero under-occupied units, 11 councils report a fifth of units as under-occupied, and for 4 municipalities, this reaches a full quarter of their stock.
Rural shortages and ageing tenants
In East Flanders, the rural municipality of Maarkedal tops the regional ranking with 16 of its 48 social homes housing too few people, accounting to exactly one-third of their social housing. Local housing alderman Steve De Boever (N-VA) blames an ageing municipal portfolio built primarily with three or more bedrooms. Seniors occupy half of those homes.
Within the wider Vlaamse Ardennen housing zone, over-65s inhabit 50% of all under-utilised properties. The so-called "empty-nesters" often stay long after their children leave.
"Because our own residents on the waiting list mostly seek one- or two-bedroom properties, larger homes frequently go to big families from nearby Oudenaarde or Ronse," De Boever told Het Nieuwsblaad.
Since 2024, tenants are penalised on certain older contracts if they repeatedly refuse to downsize, adding a monthly surcharge equal to 15% of their regular rent. Last year, 2,380 tenants paid these penalties, generating €348,575 with an average of €146 per file. However, rarely do associations enforce the fee as tenants simply lack smaller alternatives through social housing or the private market.
Municipalities must collectively add 56,000 social housing units by 2042.
