Meeting of the municipal council of 28 September 2020

Question posed by Guy Foetz

My question relates, firstly, to the evictions as a result of a court order, with staff from the City of Luxembourg's Service Logement (Housing Department) in attendance. According to data published by the Service Logement (as at 4 September 2020), there were 18 evictions in August, and a further 7 were scheduled for September. I have also been informed that, little by little, the Service Logement is running out of capacity to rehouse tenants.

With this in mind, I would like to put the following questions to the College of Aldermen:

• What are the total capacities of the City's shelters and furnished rooms, and how are they being used at present?
• Does the City intend to increase its capacity for emergency accommodation, given the sharp rise in evictions since the ban (imposed during the pandemic) was lifted, and in view of the economic and housing crises? If so, to what extent?

The second part of my question relates to pressure put on tenants without the initiation of judicial proceedings, and without any response forthcoming from the City authorities. On Rue Glesener, one company cut off the electricity and water supply to eight families in order to force them out of their furnished rooms. I witnessed these people's utter despair for myself. Private individuals and the press had to get involved to help them and guide them as to what to do next. No representatives from the City authorities, the Office social (Social Welfare Office) or the Service Logement were there to offer them support. What means of providing information and support does the City intend to put in place to protect tenants from illegal action by property owners without scruples? The furnished rooms in question were infested with mould, and therefore uninhabitable. How is it that the Service Logement had allowed that accommodation to remain open in such a state? Once again, one has to wonder whether the City has sufficient human resources to rehome the affected people.

I was astounded when, on the margins of a meeting, the Alderman for social affairs told me my information on evictions was incorrect.
I was simply relaying what I had been told by the Service Logement.

I sincerely hope that, in future, the City will take greater care of its responsibilities in this area than it has done up until now.

Response provided by Maurice Bauer

The City of Luxembourg does its best to help people in situations such as the one on Rue Glesener described by Councillor Foetz. Mr Foetz has, unfortunately, got his facts a little muddled: in actual fact, the event to which he refers was a purely private matter that, at the time, had nothing to do with the City of Luxembourg. We sorely regret Mr Foetz having got the Service Logement involved in this matter, and the resulting negative press coverage for the department. The staff at the Service Logement work tirelessly to find solutions to such situations. The 26 members of staff are extremely dedicated to their duties, and my thanks go to them.

Had Mr Foetz analysed the figures given to him in greater depth, he would have come away with a somewhat different view of the situation. It is certainly true that there were 18 evictions in August. In 14 of those cases, people were evicted from housing, while in the other 4, it was commercial property that was being vacated. The City of Luxembourg is only kept abreast of evictions from non-commercial property. Of the 14 residential evictions, 3 were cancelled. In each of the remaining 11 cases, a solution was found. This means that the City received not a single application for rehousing in a municipal apartment or shelter.

Thus far in September, there have been 13 evictions, 4 of which have been cancelled. In one case, it was a commercial property. In two cases, the people in question were given accommodation in a shelter. In all other cases, a solution was found without needing to get the City authorities involved. It is therefore not true that the City of Luxembourg is automatically obliged to step in each time an eviction takes place.

In addition, Councillor Foetz failed to request the figures for last year for comparison. There have been a few more evictions in August and September 2020 than in the same period last year, but fewer in previous months compared to last year, owing to the freeze on evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. On balance, therefore, we are not seeing any increase in the number of evictions as compared to last year.

At present, the City of Luxembourg has 33 furnished rooms (28 of these in "Haus 1" in Hamm, and the other 5 on Rue Vauban). All are currently occupied. We also have the Moulin d'Eydt shelter, which has 13 rooms, and the Obenthalt shelter, which has 14. These shelters can accommodate up to 92 people. As soon as social housing becomes available, we try to rehouse residents from the shelters there. Hence, the situation is constantly changing. Right now, there are two empty places in the shelters, but that may no longer be the case tomorrow. The shelters are not only used to accommodate people who have been evicted, but also those who have been living in unsanitary conditions, who are unable to continue living in social housing or, for example, have been forced out of their homes by a fire.

The College of Aldermen will continue investing in the large-scale construction of housing. Two years from now, the City is likely to have an extra hundred social housing units available. This will also give us more flexibility in managing our shelters. I thank both the Service Logement and the Service Biens (Municipal Property Department), which have gone to great lengths to purchase the plots we need. The College of Aldermen is trying to purchase as many plots of land as possible, in order to be able to invest in the large-scale construction of housing. Thanks also go to the Service Architecte (Architecture Department), which is doing its utmost to ensure this accommodation can be completed as soon as possible. These efforts will continue in the years to come.

The question regarding the provision of information and support needs to be addressed at national level. Should any changes be needed in terms of the protective measures, the relevant legislation will need to be amended. The law was amended in 2019. It may need to be amended once again, but for the time being, we are working on the basis of the legislation currently in force. The 26 staff at the Service Logement regularly deal with requests for advice, and are committed to providing those people with the guidance and support they need.

Response provided by Lydie Polfer

I would like to make the point that no tenants are ever evicted, be it from residential or commercial premises, without a court order. The decision to take such measures rests not with the City of Luxembourg, but with a court, which follows a very specific procedure. In the case of a residential eviction, City of Luxembourg staff members are always present. On occasion, people have been evicted from municipal shelters for violent behaviour, which, of course, we cannot stand for. I join Alderman Bauer in expressing my thanks to the Service Logement for the valuable work they do. They are available 24 hours a day – even at weekends – to help whenever a family is in need. We never leave families without support in a critical situation. I am displeased, therefore, that this situation has been presented as though the City of Luxembourg had failed in its duties. This is absolutely not true.

Question posed by Claudie Reyland

An initial project to build a pedestrian and cycle path between Cents and Weimershof/Kirchberg, with an elevator to link it to Neudorf as well, was approved by the municipal council in 2008. At the time, the bridge was to be built near to the church in Neudorf, with a pillar near the Neudorf cultural centre. Unfortunately, the project was shelved because of the economic crisis.

A new project was unveiled in 2015. This time, the bridge was to have two pillars, and pass over the old pre-school. 2017 saw the proposal of yet another project: a suspension bridge would be built over Neudorf, with a pillar (housing an elevator) erected in the vicinity of Neudorf church. In March 2019, I filed a question with the College of Aldermen. An information meeting was organised in Cents in June 2019. During this well-attended meeting, two projects were unveiled, and most of the residents who attended were enthusiastic about one of them. In July 2019, the College of Aldermen promised that I would soon get a response to my question.

Hence, I ask you again:

• What is the status of this project?
• What has been produced thus far? What studies have been done?
• Which one of the proposed projects was finally selected?
• Which project does the College of Aldermen prefer?
• When will the project be presented to the municipal council?
• When is the bridge going to be built, and when will it open to the public?

Response provided by Patrick Goldschmidt

As you quite correctly point out, this project has been in the pipeline since 2008. Up until 2017, strangely, there was no progress at all on these plans. At a public information meeting in 2019, we said we would prefer the pillar to go near the old pre-school, and would be driving that option forward. This is exactly what our departments have been doing since then. In fact, our hope was to present the project to the municipal council in the summer of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, progress on planning has been slower than expected.

The situation as it currently stands is as follows: the files relating to the surveys that need to be done on both sides of the valley have been prepared, and were sent to the Ministry of the Environment (Ministère de l’environnement) for approval in August. The relevant forestry officers have had their say, and we expect a response from the Ministry of the Environment in the next few weeks. The surveys, which will take only a few weeks, can commence immediately once we hear from the Ministry. Our departments have been instructed to continue working with the external architects. If all goes well, the basic preliminary draft study will be presented to the College of Aldermen in late 2020, or in January 2021 at the latest. Should the College of Aldermen approve the project, it can be put to the municipal council in summer 2021. We will then issue calls for tender, and then proceed to carry out the project, which is likely to take several years to complete. In any case, the College of Aldermen is determined to bring this project to fruition.

Response provided by Lydie Polfer

It is my hope, now, that we can get the project off the ground as quickly as possible. I wish to be absolutely clear about this: the project on which we are working is the proposed suspension bridge above the old Neudorf pre-school. I hope construction will not take as long as did the panoramic elevator linking Ville-Haute and Pfaffenthal. In that case, complications on the ground meant a delay between 2008 (when the municipal council gave the green light) and 2016 before the project could be completed.

I would like to point out that only last week, the Pfaffenthal elevator was awarded not one but two prizes. The Neudorf elevator will also blend in seamlessly with the urban landscape, something that was met with widespread approval at the information meeting in Cents. The City of Luxembourg is obliged to follow the procedures in place. We would be very grateful if you could encourage the State authorities to help move things along more quickly.