Brussels Capital Region

Housing

CALICO - Care and Living in Community

"CLT housing is more than just housing, it is an opportunity for meeting and collaborative construction between different actors in society, namely, tenant households, CLT representatives, the voluntary sector and public authorities. In this sense, the Community Land Trust makes it possible to recreate links within neighbourhoods and more broadly within society. While providing housing for low-income households, the CALICO project rewarded today includes an intergenerational component as well as an intercultural component with a particular focus on the gender dimension. No doubt, it is also a way of strengthening democracy through participation. I am convinced that the way housing is produced by public authorities and their partners must be able to evolve to meet the new challenges and expectations of society"

Céline Fremault, Minister of Housing of the Brussels-Capital Region
The project in numbers
7%
is the percentage of social housing in the total housing stock of the region
60%
is the average share of income that households with revenues of less than €1.500 per month dedicate to housing
25%
is the increase in the number of older adults expected in the next 15 years
1092
is the number of homeless women in the Region in 2011, an almost threefold increase since 2002
EUR 4,999,999.32
Total ERDF budget granted
Challenge addressed

The main urban challenge is the housing crisis of the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR). 

  1. Lack of social housing: in 2015 there were as many households on the waiting list as there were social housing units. The waiting period reaches up to ten years. 
  2. Low quality housing: many dwellings lack basic facilities. 
  3. Increase in real estate prices and rent: rents and property prices have on average doubled in the last ten years. 

A second challenge is the housing situation and the quality of life of specific vulnerable groups. 

  1. Ageing population: Inadequate homes form a risk for the health, wellbeing, and the independence of older people. In addition, there is a scarce variety in residential options available for them. 
  2. Women, particularly older women, face a higher risk of social isolation and poverty because of low pensions (average pension for women is €998), part-time work (81% of those working part-time in Brussels are women), and single revenues (83% of single parent families are women). 
  3. Migrants and low-income families experience several challenges in the housing market. 
  4. These vulnerable groups are often excluded from decision-making processes within the public sphere. 

The final challenge is the paradigm shift in which care for people in need becomes less institutionalised, and increasingly becomes the responsibility of civil society.

Solution proposed

A pilot project providing 34 homes will be developed. CLTB will buy the land and the common parts of the building. By taking this cost out of the equation, both affordable owner-occupied homes as well as social rental apartments will be provided. The CLT resale mechanism guarantees that these houses will remain affordable, generation after generation. 
The homes will be organised in three community-led cohousing clusters. Each of the clusters will focus on vulnerable groups, thus addressing their housing situation. One cluster will target (older) women and single family mothers. The two other clusters will take an intergenerational approach, with a significant proportion of units reserved for older adults and low-income families. The project aims to empower these groups by involving them during the different steps of the project. 
It also aims to develop a community-led model of care that reinforces the autonomy of those in need of support, integrated in an intergenerational, intercultural context. Furthermore, an accommodation for birth- and end-of-life in a homelike environment, open to the wider community, will be at the heart of one of the cohousing clusters.
By bringing different population groups and different functions together in the same project, and by strengthening social cohesion, both within the project and within the neighbourhood, CALICO will investigate a new model of housing policy. By closely monitoring the project and by involving a wide range of stakeholders, the results will be sustainable beyond the time-frame of the project.

Partnership
  • Brussels Capital Region 
  • Municipality of Forest - Local Public Authority
  • Public Center for Social Welfare of the Municipality of Forest - Local Public Authority
  • Perspective.brussels (Brussels Planning Agency) - Regional public Authority
  • Community Land Trust Brussels;
  • Public Utility Foundation Community Land Trust Brussels;
  • Logement pour Tous - Interest Group
  • AngelaD - Interest Group
  • Pass-ages - Interest Group
  • EVA - Interest Group
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Higher Education and Research Institute
Expected results

Residents
In total, the project will accommodate 34 homes. 25 of these households will have a low to modest income. In the AngelaD cluster, priority will be given to housing women. At least 50% of the households will be seniors (people over 55 years). More than 60% of the residents will have a migration background. They will improve the affordability and quality of their housing situation. They will also increase their quality of life and sense of wellbeing, and will build supportive relationships with one another. They will be empowered in their level of self-care and will be stimulated to provide informal care and support to others.
Organisations involved
They will sharpen their intergenerational, intercultural competences, reach a wider target group, and gain insights in participatory social-action methodology.
Beyond the project
Professional care organisations will integrate the concept of community care into their organisations and recognize the added value of integrating ‘birth’ and ‘end of life’ facilities where users can conceive, give birth in a natural way or spend their last days. This new model of co-living will inspire the Brussels-Capital Region to develop similar projects in the future.

Main milestones

March 2019: A kick-off event with stakeholders is organised. The reflection on the co-creation of a community care model is launched.
October 2019 : Allocation criteria for the housing units are determined.
November 2019: Groups of future residents of each of the three clusters are constituted.
June 2020: Trainings on energy use and property management of future residents completed.
December 2020: Completion of construction works of the building.
April 2021: Inauguration of the project. Residents move into their new accommodation. Birth and end-of-life facilities welcome its first users.
October 2021: Final assessment of the project. The final conference is the opportunity to take stock with all involved stakeholders. 

The project in numbers
7%
is the percentage of social housing in the total housing stock of the region
60%
is the average share of income that households with revenues of less than €1.500 per month dedicate to housing
25%
is the increase in the number of older adults expected in the next 15 years
1092
is the number of homeless women in the Region in 2011, an almost threefold increase since 2002
EUR 4,999,999.32
Total ERDF budget granted
Contact of the project
Rebecca Bosch
Project manager
Laura Colini
UIA Expert

Project news & events

CALICO Final Evaluation report

CALICO Final Evaluation report

This is the final evaluation report of the CALICO project....
BRUSSELS CAPITAL REGION

CALICO Recommendation Report

This is the concluding report produced by researchers of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) concerning the CALICO project....
CALICO inhabitants

Welcome home!

Come to 59-61 rue du Delta, 1190, Forest on the 4th of September, an unexpected sunny day in Brussels, and you will find the building of CALICO celebr...
Calico team invitation

CALICO Final conference: Save the date!

The CALICO team is pleased to invite you to their final conference, which will take place on October 13, 2021 from 9:00 am to 12:15 pm in Brussels (ve...
CALICO artwork

CALICO 2020 Strategic Committee on mutualized community care

Mutualized community care is an essential component of CALICO’s DNA, and part of the acronym that composes the project’s title (Care and Living in Com...
cover report

Calico intermediary report

The research team of the Vrije Universiteit van Brussel (VUB), a CALICO partner, published its intermediary report on the research conducted as part o...
CALICO website goes live!

CALICO website goes live!

CALICO started in November 2018, having been selected as a housing project for UIA’s third call. 2021 is the year of its completion, with the buildin...
CALICO in the Brussels Capital Region - Journal 1

CALICO in the Brussels Capital Region - Journal 1

UIA expert Laura Colini provides a descriptive overview of the project and focuses on the 7 UIA challenges. Furthermore, she explores “the model of th...
CALICO’s groundwork for evaluation and state-of-play

CALICO’s groundwork for evaluation and state-of-play

Check out the first report, presenting the initial assessment and research process of the project...
CALICO and COVID-19

CALICO and COVID-19

A “CALICOnfinement” update from the project...
CALICO fiture representation

CALICO. More than a CLT

The main objective of CALICO is to realise more than a typical Community Land Trust (CLT) but an intergenerational inclusive cohabitation focussed on ...
housing is a human right

Cities engaging in the right to housing

Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) and URBACT are joining forces to push the right to housing...
CALICO project meeting with the future neighbours

CALICO project meeting with the future neighbours

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the CALICO project partners introduced themselves to their future neighbours. ...

Media

CALICO in right2housing.eu

CALICO project video

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