Leuven (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Klein Rijsel project in Leuven, designed by KPW Architecten, separates land ownership to keep homes affordable. Supported by Groen councillor Frouke Wouters, construction starts in 2025, residents will move in 2027.
Leuven is building new homes in a small area. The homes are cheaper because people only pay for the house, not the land. The land is owned by a special group that keeps the homes affordable.
According to officials, the project also has shared spaces like a garden and a bike workshop, which help people connect. They mentioned that the city had to make a special agreement to allow for smaller homes, which helped the project follow the rules while still ensuring the homes were affordable.
How will Leuven’s Klein Rijsel project provide 9 affordable homes?
The Klein Rijsel project is a new way to build homes in Leuven. According to officials, this will prevent people from buying the land to make a profit, making homes more expensive. They mentioned that the project is important because homes in Leuven are getting more expensive. They said it can help people with lower incomes afford homes. The city wants to make sure everyone can live in the city and feel like they belong to a community.
“There will still be hurdles to be overcome with a new model like this,”
Said Groen municipal councillor Frouke Wouters.
“But this project is really necessary. Major cities all have a CLT on their territory. It can build a dam against the marketing of housing, and it offers a guarantee of a permanent affordable housing supply, something we need a lot of in Leuven.”
The Klein Rijsel project in Leuven could start being built by the end of 2025. People could start living there by 2027. But this is the first project like this in Leuven, so the city is being careful. They want to see how well it works before building more projects like this. They mentioned that if it works well, Leuven will build more projects like this in the future.
KPW Architecten is designing the homes. They started working on the project in April 2023. The project has a plan with specific dates for each step. The first design was approved in August 2023. The next design was approved in February 2024. They apply for permits in June 2024 and expect to get them by spring 2025.
