Affordable housing

The housing crisis has long been ignored, because one government after the other thought that voters were not affected by it – now it has become more acute because of the other current crises. We urgently need a fair housing policy in which tenants, first-time buyers and small property owners are prioritized.

Making renting more affordable

We have a housing shortage. Public housing is a rare commodity and therefore priorities must be set when allocating public housing.

› The Pirates welcome the introduction of a national register for public housing (RENLA) and will set up a transparent points system, whereby people will receive a priority for public housing depending on their living situation.

Currently, the State spends millions of euros a year on housing allowances. From an economic point of view, the aid alone does not make much sense, because people with low salaries compete against each other, while the home owners have no incentive to lower the price.

We propose:

• That the system of rent subsidies should be expanded and owners who rent out their homes at a social price should be rewarded. The owners who rent below the average rent in a locality should be able to deduct this difference from their taxes;
• A rent price index should be drawn up to determine the average prices in a locality (divided by category of a dwelling).
• That rent can be deducted from taxes.

Housing in Luxembourg - Support buying

Owning a home is a safety net for the future. We Pirates want people in this country to have the opportunity to buy their own home, whether on the private market or from the public hand.

We propose a number of measures to support this:

› Offer apartments with rent-to-own. In the case of rent-to-own contracts, our idea is that when signing a rental contract, the value of the property is fixed in the contract. Every rent that a tenant of an apartment pays, is partly registered as down-payment. On the day the tenant wants to buy the apartment, they can deduct this credit from the purchase price.

› Increase the state guarantee for real estate loans Some people lack the necessary private equity, which is difficult to save up when you also have to pay rent. The state therefore already helps today as a guarantor for real estate loans, but only up to an amount of €200,000. The Pirates want to increase the maximum state guarantee for real estate loans for the purchase of your first home.

› Abolish notary fees for the first residence completely ("Bëllegen Akt") Every time you buy a house, you have to pay a fee at the notary ("Droits d'enregistrements"). We want this registration fee to be completely waived when purchasing your first home when it will be used as your main residence - if the buyer stays in the house for at least two years. The goal of the "Bëllegen Akt" must be to make it easier for people to buy their first home.

More information on https://piraten.lu.