© Marc Hoscheid
For individuals and families suffering financially and facing hardships, social services offer an indispensable lifeline.
Every municipality in Luxembourg with at least 6,000 residents is required to have a social office. However, since many municipalities do not meet this threshold and don't wish to expand their services, they often collaborate with other municipalities to operate a shared social office. Currently, there are 30 such social offices across the Grand Duchy.
Last week, the municipal syndicate Syvicol, the Association of Social Offices (EOS), and the Ministry of Family Affairs, Solidarity, Living Together, and Reception of Refugees organised the second edition of the "Social Work Day." With housing being the central topic of discussion, people from the sector certainly did not hold back and politicians were left with a hefty to-do list.
Around 200 people gathered in Weidingen near Wiltz, including several municipal councillors, mayors, and mainly employees from various social offices. After a series of presentations in the morning, the participants spent Saturday afternoon working in groups while discussing four topics related to housing.
Ariane Töpfer, Managing Director of Youth & Work, emphasised that having a home where people can live under dignified conditions is a fundamental requirement for escaping poverty or preventing a slide into it. However, she pointed out that the current housing market is in a dire state, especially for young people. While refugees are significantly impacted as well, the housing crisis extends deep into Luxembourgish society.
She continued: "We have families in Luxembourg who, for a variety of reasons, live in cramped conditions or the parents decide to move, but the children can't move with them or young people in their mid-20s simply wanting to move out, and even with a CDI (a permanent employment contract), they are not having an easy way into the housing market. These are challenging circumstances for people."
One of the working groups discussed alternative living situations, such as tiny homes. Fränk Dimmer, Vice-President of Resonord, noted that municipalities would be open to these ideas.
He added, "Since 2023, the Ministry of the Interior has provided a provision that allows municipalities to incorporate alternative housing forms into their General Development Plans (PAGs). It is now up to the municipalities to have the courage to adopt these measures and provide themselves with additional tools to approve these types of housing here in Luxembourg."
Annick Neven, a social assistant at the social office of Centrest, highlighted that the administrative burden is far too high, and it slows down attempts to tackle housing issues. She remarked, "No social office, or social service in general, has an easy time in their day-to-day work. Despite having enough staff, our work requires us to focus on people's well-being, but due to bureaucracy and lengthy procedures, our social services often fall short, which is truly a shame."
A big theme from the day were the so-called 'café/bar rooms' which had to be closed due to a lack of hygiene and safety observed in those types of housing facilities. While hygiene conditions were unacceptable, mayor of Kayl Jean Weiler admitted that finding accommodation for those affected by the closures has been difficult:
"We don't know how the people who live in these poor conditions will fare afterwards. It's a problem that's really not easily dealt with. On the one hand, these people can't continue living in poor conditions, but on the other hand, we can't guarantee what will happen to them if they are evicted."
President of the municipality union Syvicol, Emile Eicher, proposed the idea of a police unit to monitor the hygiene conditions of these housing facilities. However, Minister of the Interior Léon Gloden was sceptical, stating:
"I don't think everything needs to be centralised. You would be able to act efficiently and a lot faster if you're already on-site and if the respective mayor is aware of the locations of these 'café/bar rooms.' But creating a national authority for this purpose would just slow things down. As a ministry and our colleagues in the government, we are more than ready to advise and support municipalities in solving this problem."
Minister Gloden concluded by saying: "We should generally question the business model of 'café/bar rooms' and we should focus on other housing models, such as shared housing and tiny houses."
