Antwerp (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The 1st stone was laid for 115 new social housing units on Antwerp’s Blancefloerlaan by Woonhaven, chaired by Patrick Janssens, including a park, supermarket, and sustainable design for community living.
As VRT News reported, the first stone has been laid for a new social housing project on Blancefloerlaan in Antwerp’s Left Bank. The ceremony marks the start of construction for a development that aims to provide affordable homes to residents in need. About 40,000 people in Antwerp are currently on the waiting list for social housing.
“We have a shortage of social housing. Many homes are too old or simply too small. We need to completely replace some, and we can renovate others,”
says Janssens.
“Our ambition is to create another 7,500 social housing units.”
Patrick Jansens, chairman of social housing company Woonhaven
What can Woonhaven’s 115 new homes on Blancefloerlaan do for Antwerp?
City officials and Woonhaven representatives attended the event to show support for the project. The development combines careful planning with sustainable building practices. It will help meet part of the high demand for social housing in Antwerp.
“We already have a total of 24,000 social housing units. Our ambition is to create around 7,500 more over the next few years, but that will certainly take another 15 years,”
Woonhaven said.
The new social housing project on Blancefloerlaan will include 115 apartments. It will also have a supermarket and a public park.
“We want to focus on creating a livable environment,”
says project coordinator Ellen Denis.
“We hope that some additional greenery and commercial space will improve our social housing.”
“We’re investing heavily in the Left Bank,”
she continues.
“At Europark, a tender is underway for the renovation of approximately 360 homes. We’re also looking for a designer to create three other buildings with 400 social housing units.”
Jansens, a spokesperson for the project, said it could set an example for other developments.
“We’re not afraid to invest in social housing, and it fits well in the neighbourhood,”
he said. During the official inauguration, a time capsule was buried at the site. The capsule contains written messages and a copy of today’s newspaper. It is meant to preserve a record of the project for the future.
“We want to create a sustainable building,”
explains architect Tom Vermeylen.
“So the hope is that the building will last a long time and that the time capsule won’t be dug up for hundreds of years.”
By April 2025, the waiting list for social housing in Flanders reached a historic high. According to the latest data, about 199,085 people were registered as candidates for subsidised housing across the region.
In the city of Antwerp alone, more than 45,000 residents are on the waiting list even after the introduction in March 2024 of a new central registration system for social housing. At the same time, many social homes remain empty: in 2023, over 8,000 social housing units stood vacant across Flanders.
