We often talk about what is happening abroad, we try to draw inspiration from it when it comes to new regulations, innovation, etc. But it also happens that these “ideas” are unsuited to the Québec market and to be avoided at all costs.
Here are some examples...
• Flanders in Belgium: and buying low-cost housing.
Or how to reduce the stock of affordable housing?
The purchase in the old, more commonly called “HLM sale”, this device concerns the sale of housing of the rental stock of Flanders Opale Habitat: The vacant properties offered for sale are reserved for 2 months for tenants of Flanders Opale Habitat. After this period, the sale is open to all.
These are dwellings built or acquired for more than ten years by low-rent housing. (1)
With thousands of families on the waiting list to obtain low-rent housing, we can wonder why we would want to reduce its availability even more.
• Flanders in Belgium: foreign owners who live in a public housing in Belgium. A tightening of pre-rental surveys!
The need to provide affordable housing must remain a joint action with private owners. But verifications must be made for both a potential tenant in the public and private sectors.
In Flanders, investigators have been hired to verify the tenants’ belongings. Indeed, to obtain social housing, you should not own real estate, anywhere!
However, “in August, the 1135 tenants of social housing in the Flemish city of Lier received a letter reminding them that it was forbidden to own property abroad and that an investigation was going to be carried out. ”No response has been received to this request,” said Marc Vanden Eynde, director of the housing association of Lier. (2)
During the investigation, officials of the housing association discovered that 25 families already owned an apartment, a house or a building plot of land abroad.
All 25 tenants received their notice and were expected to vacate their social housing by the end of September. They were also fined for the social services they have received in recent years. For some of them, this amount reaches close to 35,000 euros.”
• In France: Banning evictions in wintertime
In France there is the so-called “winter truce”. This winter truce is honoured from 1 November to 31 March of the following year.
During this period, the eviction of the tenant from his dwelling cannot take place, it is therefore postponed.
The consequences are dramatic for many rental housing owners who have to assume all the costs related to the dwelling/or the house, taxes, mortgages,... without having a revenue for many months.
This law is so controversial and disgruntled by many that an “Anti-Squat Law” was passed in August 2020 to protect people who are victims of squatting in their housings.
“If a landlord suffers the squatting of his housing, he can contact the prefect and notify the police. The latter therefore receive a complaint for housing invasion, while the first has 48 hours’ time to give notice to the squatters of the dwelling and warn them that they must leave the premises within 24 hours.” (3)
And in November 2022, penalties and procedures were further strengthened to deter the squatters.
(1) https://www.inc-conso.fr/content/lachat-dun-logement-social-par-un-locataire
(2) https://www.rtbf.be/article/lierre-une-vingtaine-de-familles-expulsees-de-leur-logement-social-car-ils-etaient-proprietaires-a-l-etranger-10724255?id=10724255
(3) https://www.droits.fr/loi-anti-squat/