Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Nearly 10,000 homeless people were counted in Brussels in 2024. About 60% receive help, but 992 still sleep outside. Groups help, but more government action and housing are needed.
Many groups in Brussels are working to help homeless people. They run shelters and help people living on the streets. They want to help people get out of homelessness and have a stable life. They want to help people find a home, get healthcare, and get help with mental health problems.
The latest count showed that almost 60% of homeless people were getting help from these groups. Officials mentioned that the goal is to help people find a permanent home and get back into society.
Are 10,000 People in Brussels losing the fight against homelessness?
According to the officials, 4 out of 10 homeless people don’t have a way to get their lives back on track right now. This is because there aren’t enough homes, it takes a long time to get help, the government makes it hard, or because they have problems like mental health issues, no papers, or no money.
The group that runs the homeless count says that the help from groups and people who help on their own is great. But it’s not enough to stop homelessness from getting worse. They say the problem is too big and too complicated for one group to solve, even if they want to help.
They mentioned that we need to change things on a bigger level. The government needs to work together and invest in affordable homes and ways to prevent homelessness in the first place. If we don’t do this, more and more people will be homeless.
“The figures, therefore, serve as a tool for policymakers to develop more effective, structural and humane public policy measures,”
The organisation writes in their press release.
In Brussels, the number of homeless people has gone up a lot. During the night of November 6-7, 2024, there were 9,777 people counted as homeless. That’s a big increase from the last official count in 2022.
Nearly 10,000 individuals slept in temporary camps or on the streets. Authorities said that most individuals are occupying vacant structures with the owners’ consent, which is safer than sleeping on the streets, but it’s still not a long-term solution.
The number of people living in squats, which are buildings taken over without permission, has gone down in Brussels. In 2024, 683 people were living in squats, which is a lot fewer than in 2022. This is because a big squat on Paleizenstraat closed down.
Officials mentioned that when big squats close, a lot of people suddenly need somewhere else to live, and there aren’t enough shelters for everyone. The problem of homelessness in Brussels is getting worse, and more people are struggling to find a place to live.
The 2024 homeless population count in Brussels identified that 513 individuals were residing in areas that were not officially shelters. They are operated by groups, churches, or individuals who assist but do not receive government funding.
Staff stated that they assist individuals who are unable to enter government shelters as they are overcrowded or have stringent restrictions. The number of individuals sleeping in these illegal shelters has increased by 30% since the year 2022.
The 2024 count found that 992 people were sleeping outside, like on the streets, in train stations, or their cars. This is about 10% of all the homeless people counted. The number of people sleeping outside has gone up by almost 23% since 2022.
Officials mentioned that a lot of people are sleeping in train and metro stations because they are warmer than other places and there are more people around. 613 of the people sleeping outside were found in towns outside of the centre of Brussels, like Anderlecht, Molenbeek, and Schaerbeek.
This is a 50% increase from the last count. According to the officials, homelessness is spreading out from the centre of Brussels and becoming a problem in more parts of the region. This could be because people are being pushed out of the city centre because of high rents, or because there aren’t enough services to help people in these areas.
