Each year, the census is carried out in new territories. In 2025, 38 municipalities in the districts of Tournai-Mouscron, Huy-Waremme and the Liège basin (Liège, Seraing, Herstal and Ans) were targeted, in collaboration with local authorities and social services.
And based on 6 years of field surveys, the researchers carried out an extrapolation to the scale of the region. They estimate that 18,812 people are experiencing homelessness and homelessness. Among them, around a third are women, and 5,031 minors (26.7%) directly affected by the housing situation of their parents.
Various forms of precariousness
People sleeping rough are just the visible part of a worrying phenomenon. The majority of citizens in great precariousness find themselves in accommodation centers (welcome homes, transit accommodation…) or are housed with relatives (families, friends…). Others turn to emergency accommodation, are forced to opt for an unconventional “roof” (tent, squat, car, garage…) or are admitted to an institution (mental health, youth assistance, prison…)
The objective of such a study is to help public authorities direct their means of combating homelessness and homelessness.
“These figures reflect fairly well what we are experiencing on the ground, and we have put in place different solutions which make it possible to respond in part.explains Mireille D’Alessandro, head of the Prevention Service of the City of Huy. But to go further, we need more territorial coordination. “More rural communities must also address the problem, otherwise people in precarious situations will always end up returning to urban centers, which cannot take care of everything.”
“Then, we need regional support to perpetuate our structures, but we know the current situation in terms of subsidies. So we are a little uncertain,” continues this social worker.
Yves Coppieters, Walloon Minister of Solidarity, assures in any case that access to housing is not “a secondary purpose”, but good “a fundamental pillar of any solidarity policy” from the regional government.Remember that in 2021, Belgium signed the Lisbon Declaration. This commits him to eradicating homelessness by 2030.
