“Platforms like Airbnb worsen housing crisis in Brussels” (Brussels)

Themabeeld — © a lot

As in most European cities, digital platforms for short-term tourist rentals such as Airbnb and HomeAway have grown significantly in the Brussels-Capital Region in recent years. This puts extra pressure on the housing market, and more specifically on affordable housing. This is evident from a report by the Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis.

The rental of furnished tourist accommodation means that part of the residential housing is converted into tourist accommodation, reducing the number of houses on the conventional housing market, according to BISA. This could lead to an increase in rent and housing prices. It is becoming more difficult, especially for people with the lowest incomes, to find affordable housing.

The activity generated by the Airbnb platform alone would have led to at least 2,400 homes disappearing from the Brussels real estate market by the end of 2022, BISA calculated.

Due to its tourist attraction, the Vijfhoek, the city center within the Small Ring, has been particularly hard hit: in some neighborhoods a significant portion of the homes are used as tourist accommodation. In the five statistical sectors that BISA uses near the Grote Markt, between 15 and 33 percent of the homes that were rented out in 2011 have now been transformed into homes that are rented out via Airbnb.

The future development of the supply of platforms such as Airbnb is highly dependent on Brussels regulations and the ability of the regional authorities to enforce them, BISA emphasizes.

At the end of January, the Brussels Parliament approved an ordinance that aims to limit the proliferation of Airbnb homes. It aims to enable tourist stays in complete safety and limit the negative consequences of this economic activity.