There is enough building land in Luxembourg, say housing minister Henri Kox (left) and Claude Turmes, minister of spatial planning, in a joint press conference.  MLOG

There is enough building land in Luxembourg, say housing minister Henri Kox (left) and Claude Turmes, minister of spatial planning, in a joint press conference.  MLOG

There is enough potential land for accommodation in Luxembourg, as was revealed by three studies respectively by the observatory of habitat, the ministry of housing and the ministry of energy and spatial planning. In all, 5,018 hectares of land were accounted for in their joint project.

Among these, 64% were found in residential areas, 10% in mixed areas and 15% in industrial and commercial areas. According to spatial planning minister Claude Turmes (déi Gréng), this could mean 142,000 new housing units, and would prove that there was no need to clear more spaces for housing, as had been stated by CSV-leader Claude Wiseler in a Delano interview in April 2021.

These numbers are the result of the Raum+ initiative, a tool allowing 89 communes to identity the lands and communicate with the department of spatial planning (DATer), observatory of spatial development and the ministry of housing. Thirteen communes have yet to participate in the listing.

According to Turmes, who encourages sustainable urban development, “we need to limit the consumption of new land and the fragmentation of the landscape, protect biodiversity and agricultural land, and aim for an optimal use of services and infrastructure and a reduction of the costs of servicing and technical infrastructure.”

An effort towards the environmental and housing crisis

The vast majority (64.2%) of the building land for residential use that was identified in the study is owned by a number of private residents who make up 0.5% of the grand duchy’s population.

One of the main issues identified by the ministries in an official statement is that this monopoly on land is a direct contributor to the housing crisis Luxembourg faces. As housing minister Henri Kox (déi Gréng) reminds us, “21,000 households pay more than half their wages towards rent,” attributing this directly to the flare in housing prices due to the privatisation of buildable lands.

, revealed in the summer of 2021, already aims to address the issue by for instance pushing for a mobilisation of the buildable spaces, and the intervention of the ministry in cases where owners stall a construction project.

In addition, a national land tax is planned. that it would take a more progressive and aggressive approach to the property tax, so as to convince owners of undeveloped residential lands.