#498 Erkenningsnummer P708816
september 20, 2017 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ p2
politics \ p4
Raising the bar
The government of Flanders is increasing its climate change goals following positive results, basing its 40% CO2 reduction target on levels from two years ago \4
BUSiNESS \ p6
innovation \ p7
Say you’ll stay
Ghent’s old docks – home to weird and wonderful events over the last several years – will soon make way for a new development. Which calls for a giant festival \ 15
Home improvements
education \ p9
art & living \ p10
What a pain
A Flemish doctor has just been made the head of the European Pain Federation, and he says physicians are woefully ill-informed about their patients’ number one complaint \7
© Courtesy Echo’s uit de Wijk
Community action helps low-income families in Ghent bring homes up to standard Daan Bauwens Follow Daan on Twitter \ @DaanBauwens
A consortium in Ghent’s Dampoort neighbourhood arranges financing for families whose houses don’t meet basic safety and energy standards.
T
here’s a popular belief that owning a house is synonymous with being well-off. But that picture is misleading. In Flanders, 120,000 homeowners are what’s known as “emergency buyers”: families who couldn’t find a suitable rental property and so bought a house that doesn’t meet minimum safety, health or energy standards. And they lack the means to renovate. Selling the house to people who have the means when the
house becomes uninhabitable is often how the story ends. In Ghent’s Dampoort neighbourhood, a consortium of social organisations have joined forces with the government in an attempt to turn the tide. Thanks to their innovative renovation scheme, homeowners now have access to a budget to get their home fixed, helping them stay where they are. It’s a scheme deemed so cuttingedge that the consortium was one of the 10 nominations for Radical Innovators, a nationwide poll that puts the spotlight on innovations for a better world and a better climate. The Belgian and Flemish governments pride themselves on the nation’s home ownership rate: More than 70% of the population live in a privately owned house. But a close look
at the numbers can curb all that optimism. Not only is a high ownership rate not a sign of success – nations with higher poverty rates like Bulgaria and Romania have much higher ownership rates – recent research also shows that almost 9% of homeowners in Flanders live in run-down houses and can’t afford to renovate. In total, 350,000 houses in Flanders – including rental properties – need significant work before they can be considered safe, healthy and energy-efficient. What’s more, most families who own sub-standard quality homes aren’t eligible for the government’s myriad tax breaks, renewal projects, renovation or energy subsidies, as these all require financial commitment from the owner. continued on page 5