Housing tenure, housing costs and poverty in Flanders (Belgium)

This article deals with the relation between housing and poverty in Flanders (Belgium). We describe how home tenure and housing costs developed differently for different income groups. Furthermore, we assess the impact of these evolutions on poverty and welfare distribution. Our analyses show that in the observed period homeownership increased strongly among higher-income categories and remained stable or even decreased among low-income households. Average housing costs increased more for low-income households than for high-income households, leading to a sharp increase in problematic rent-to-income ratios for the former. It appears that especially the private rented sector is problematic. The social rented sector is evaluated rather positively. Taking account of housing costs leads to higher poverty levels and higher welfare inequality compared to the situation where only current income is used to calculate poverty and welfare distribution.