Luxembourg City Launches 'Participatory Housing' Project for Up to 27 Housing Units

Following the reported success of its first "participatory housing groups" project in Belair and Bonnevoie in 2017, the City of Luxembourg (Ville de Luxembourg - VdL) has announced that it is renewing this project in 2023 with four new plots located in three different districts able to accommodate a total of 20 to 27 housing units.

The concept of participatory housing is aimed at individuals who join forces to participate in the purchase of land, the design and construction of their building, including the various dwellings and common areas, according to their own ideas and needs, and to ensure the subsequent management of this building.

As part of the second edition of this project, the City of Luxembourg is making available four plots which it owns in the districts of Merl, Hollerich and Neudorf-Weimershof:

• 4 Rue de la Barrière, Merl: land with an area of 5.74 ares, which can accommodate seven to nine dwellings;
• 39 Rue Giselbert, Hollerich: land with an area of 3.95 ares, which can accommodate six to eight dwellings;
• 68 Rue Baudouin, Hollerich: land with an area of 0.96 ares, which can accommodate three to four dwellings;
• 73 Rue du Kiem, Neudorf-Weimershof: land with an area of 14.39 ares, which can accommodate four to six dwellings.

The groups participating in the project can choose between acquiring full ownership or a 99-year lease, according to certain specific conditions. All the terms and conditions are available on habitatparticipatif.vdl.lu.

In order to encourage meetings to help form groups and to inform people interested in the project about the initial steps, the City of Luxembourg is organising three workshops to help with the preparation of application files. These workshops will take place at the Rocade administrative building (3 Rue du Laboratoire) in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie at 18:00 on the following dates: Wednesday 20 September, Thursday 28 September and Wednesday 4 October 2023. Registration is compulsory via the online form on the above website and must be done at least one week before the workshop in question.

In order to be eligible for this project, groups must be made up of natural persons who are not the owner, emphyteutic or usufructuary of housing or building land, nor do they hold shares in a company that owns one or of several dwellings. In addition, candidates must reside there principally and permanently; rental in whole or in part is not authorised.

The participatory housing groups will be selected following a formal tender procedure (call for applications) and on the basis of the applications submitted including, among other things, a detailed presentation of the group and the cohabitation project.

The call for applications has already begun and the deadline for submitting applications is 12 January 2024. The call will end on the day of the signing of the authentic deed between the City of Luxembourg and the members of the selected group.

The City of Luxembourg added that the private individuals who are part of this group will be more involved right from the start than would be the case for a "classic" real estate purchase from a developer. They can be actively involved in the different phases (planning, design, construction), have greater decision-making power and can influence the quality of the entire project.

According to the City of Luxembourg, this form of community housing also makes it possible to benefit from a lower price compared to a traditional purchase and constitutes an innovative alternative in terms of affordable housing.