Medias & News – SoHoNet

How can spaces be converted, renovated, and developed into affordable housing while limiting the budgetary burden on public finances? This key question guided the discussions and contributions during our latest Housing Meetup. The exchanges provided several insights while underlining the importance of renovation grants and resident support delivered by the non-profit sector within such projects.

Contributions were made by Arcatim and Les Petits Riens on the Bara project, Fair Estate on the Les Griottes project, and Quares on the Flemish model of “conventioned rental housing”.

The evening concluded with an informal networking drink, offering participants the opportunity to meet and exchange views on key levers (such as social rental agencies rents, planning regulations, habitability standards, and taxation) to encourage investors and developers to engage in building conversion projects with a social housing purpose.

Highlights from the workshop: support and partnerships between social rental agencies and housing operators (09/12/2025)

In December, SoHoNet brought together non-profit organizations, social rental agencies, and housing operators to discuss resident support for vulnerable groups and partnerships between social services and housing managers. Drawing on feedback from the Bara, Village Sainte-Anne, and Maison Deleuze projects, discussions highlighted the importance of building partnerships between stakeholders from the earliest project design stages. Panel participants also stressed the need to secure long-term funding for resident support, a key condition for the success of these models. particularly in a context where achieving financial viability for affordable housing projects is becoming increasingly challenging.

The Housing Deal was identified as a promising pathway to integrate these issues into project development and strengthen collaboration dynamics among stakeholders. As several speakers noted during the morning, participation in SoHoNet events represents a first step in this direction.

Agenda

Our housing webinars

Review of our webinar “The subdivision of residential buildings as a pathway to creating affordable housing in Brussels” (23/04/26).

Last April, Housing Webinar #23 was organised as part of the Social Reno Deal. In the first part, Eva Joskin (Canopea) gave a detailed presentation of Canopea’s recently published study, “Dividing to House Better: The Need to Produce Housing Differently”, which focuses on the Walloon territory. Marion Alecian then placed the issue of subdivision in a Brussels context, looking at it through the lens of urban renewal, as well as the social and environmental dimensions of such an approach.