The LSAP is calling on the government to urgently rethink its housing strategy, criticising the current DP/CSV coalition for slow progress and poor planning – particularly when it comes to affordable housing in Luxembourg City.

Last week, the government council approved a mobilisation tax targeting vacant land and homes, with the aim of curbing speculation and freeing up housing stock in the long term. But for the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), that timeline is too slow, with officials pushing for quicker, more concrete action to address what they see as a deepening housing crisis.

Cloche d'Or: A missed opportunity

Cloche d'Or has become a symbol of what the LSAP calls a failed housing policy: high volumes of new construction, but very little of it affordable – and most of it out of public control.

LSAP City Councillor Maxime Miltgen pointed to the municipality's investment pledge of €500 million in housing announced in 2023. While the figure sounds impressive, she says the results do not match the promises.

Even before the announcement, there were claims that a huge amount would be done for housing, Miltgen said. "But the numbers say otherwise. In 2022, the Luxembourg City Social Observatory reported just 1,697 social housing units in the entire city, that's only 0.016 units per resident."

This shortage, she argues, is contributing directly to poverty, with one in five working people in the capital living at or below the poverty line.

Miltgen also raised concerns about the long-term effectiveness of current housing projects. "Most of the apartments are neither social nor affordable. Many will be sold off or managed under long-term leases, meaning the city loses control over these buildings. In the long run, this won't significantly increase the city's public housing stock."

Staffing and transparency shortfalls

The LSAP believes more staff are urgently needed in the city's housing service to deal with growing demand. But beyond that, the party says Luxembourg City must take the lead in tracking the number of vacant homes, something that is currently lacking.

While a national register is planned, it will not come into effect until 2028 at the earliest. For LSAP representative Olivier Bichel, waiting that long is not an option.

"There's no political will to gather the data – but it wouldn't be difficult", he said. "We already know the ways: electricity and water usage, school enrolments, tax records. These could tell us quickly where the empty apartments are, how long they've been vacant, and allow us to create a proper registry."

The LSAP says this kind of registry would provide the solid foundation needed for effective housing policy. According to rough estimates, between 7% and 8% of apartments in Luxembourg City could be sitting empty – a troubling figure given the scale of the housing crisis.