Die Auswirkungen der EU auf den Immobilienmarkt in Brüssel

Dass Europa die Immobilienpreise in Brüssel kontrolliere, sei eine nicht unerhebliche Tatsache, schreibt Nicolas Bernard von den Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis in der September-Ausgabe der Zeitschrift Brussels Studies. Er behauptet, dass die öffentlichen Behörden dies vermeiden könnten, wenn sie dazu bereit wären.  

The presence of European civil servants in Brussels has become a scapegoat blamed for high rent and real estate prices in the city, claims Bernard. The situation is confounded by poor urban planning, which has seen the European quarter devoted solely to the service sector and created buildings of low architectural value. 

According to Bernard, the EU has a direct inflationary effect on real estate prices in municipalities preferred by its civil servants. While the concentration of EU staff in the affluent neighbourhoods of the capital is limited in geographic terms, it does, however, have indirect effects on the other sectors. 

„As these prosperous areas gradually become financially inaccessible, the demand turns to slightly less exclusive areas,“ states Bernard, explaining that this causes the value of mid-market housing to rise. Furthermore, Europeans trigger gentrification of particular areas when they settle in „certain run-down neighbourhoods in the city centre“.

The situation in Brussels is highly specific, according to Bernard, as the EU institutions are located in the heart of the city and not on the outskirts on a purpose-built campus, as they are in Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Furthermore, the failure of the political authorities to live up to their promise to „introduce a mix of housing in a European quarter devoted entirely to offices“ has aggravated the monofunctionality of the Brussels EU quarter. 

Bernard concedes, however, that the presence of the EU is not solely to blame for rising house prices. External causes such as a drop in mortgage rates, lack of public housing and an overall increase in the city’s population have equally contributed. 

He recommends increasing the amount of public housing, more taxation of capital revenue and restrictions on rent as means of countering the price rises. 

„It would be out of place for the Brussels authorities to hide behind the convenient argument that ‚it is Europe’s fault‘ to conceal their own shortcomings,“ concludes Bernard, urging them to implement measures to help those having difficulty finding housing.