Gregg Svingen of Seattle, Wash., and his girlfriend, Sophie Jacobs, rent a chic corner flat in this building in
Brussels' city center. They plan to buy in Brussels soon.
By GARETH HARDING
February 21, 2007
BRUSSELS — Apartments here donÂ't get much more central than Gregg SvingenÂ's one-bedroom place just off Boulevard Emile Jacqmain, a busy thoroughfare that snakes through the Belgian capital.
Directly in front of his building is Rue Neuve, the cityÂ's main shopping street. On the left is the shimmering glass home of the National Theater; on the right, central BrusselsÂ's oldest hotel and biggest movie complex. And the Grand Place, considered to be one of the most beautiful squares in the world, is a five-minute stroll away, as are most of the cityÂ's finest bars and restaurants.
Â"ItÂ's amazing to live downtown,Â" said Mr. Svingen, a 34-year-old American from Seattle, who works as a consultant for a lobbying firm called the Centre. Â"Before Brussels, I never thought it would be possible to live slap-bang in the center.Â"
Until the mid-1990s, few urban professionals would have been tempted to live in the neighborhood, which was better known for sex shops than hip restaurants. But the area is rapidly changing, altered mainly by young Flemish professionals and expatriates like Mr. Svingen — although he recently decided to take advantage of the growing property market and buy a place in the city suburbs. Â"Downtown is definitely changing for the better,Â" he said, surveying the sidewalk-widening work going on below his balcony. Â"But I donÂ't know how long the prices will remain democratic.Â"
The cost of renting and buying property has risen in the eight years that Mr. Svingen has lived in Brussels, where both NATO and the 27-member European Union have their headquarters. But despite the increases, Brussels remains one of the cheapest places to buy or to rent among all the European Union capitals.
Â"The politicians in Belgium think itÂ's horribly expensive here, but only because they donÂ't compare it to anywhere else,Â" said Iain Cook, chief executive of the local branch of ERA Real Estate, which has offices in 40 countries.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment of 60 square meters, or almost 650 square feet, in an upscale district of Brussels is $1,280 a month. That is half the average price in Paris and less than a third the cost of renting in London and New York, according to Mercer Human Resources Consulting, which helps clients around the world find housing for expatriate employees.
Tenants like Mr. Svingen, who signed a nine-year lease in 2003, are also protected by Belgian laws that make it difficult for rent increases to exceed the rate of inflation.
He pays 723 euros, or $950, a month for his 88-square-meter, or 947-square-foot apartment. The amount includes services charges but no utilities; he also pays an additional 60 euros, or $79, a month to rent a garage on his street.
It certainly is possible to find cheaper apartments in Brussels, but not with the same kind of parquet flooring, stucco moldings, high ceilings, wraparound balconies and French windows that flood the apartment with natural light.
Â"The great thing about Brussels is you can rent without feeling guilty about throwing your money away,Â" said Mr. Svingen, who lived in England and France before settling in Belgium. Â"In London and Paris they scrimp on the space but certainly not on the price.Â"
Despite the cheap rent and the buzz of living downtown, Mr. Svingen and his Dutch partner, Sophie Jacobs, are about to buy an apartment in Ixelles, a trendy suburb favored by expats. Â"IÂ'm buying because the property market in Belgium is growing at a healthy rate,Â" he said, but is not as expensive as London, Dublin or New York.
In fact, house prices in Brussels over the last two years have grown at a faster rate than in any of those three cities. In 2006, the value of town houses rose by 13 percent, and apartments by almost 10 percent, according to the Belgium Economics Ministry. This followed a 17.1 percent jump in house prices in 2005, the largest increase in the 12-nation Eurozone.
But residential property in the Belgian capital is still cheap compared with other major European cities, partly because the purchase tax is just 17 percent. According to the ERA Europe Market Survey 2006, the average price of a dwelling of 100 square meters, or slightly more than 1,075 square feet, was 217,462 euros in Brussels, 297,462 euros in Paris, 360,427 euros in London and 368,000 euros in Dublin. (In dollars, the figures would be approximately $286,000 in Brussels, $391,000 in Paris, $474,000 in London and $484,000 in Dublin.)
Â"If you are looking for a good return on your investment, property in Brussels is still a good buy,Â" said Mr. Cook, the ERA real estate agent, who added that house prices are expected to continue to rise by 5 to 10 percent this year in spite of higher interest rates.
It is clear from the way Mr. Svingen greets waiters at a local Flemish restaurant, enthuses about the new Ukrainian supermarket that has just opened around the corner and proudly proclaims that work is a 12-minute door-to-door hop by public transport that cheap housing is not the main reason he decided to live in Brussels.
He acknowledged that there is a downside that includes bureaucracy, the squally weather — surely nothing new for someone raised in Seattle — and indifferent customer service, which, he said, Â"takes nonchalance to a new level.Â"
But Â"between Paris, London and Brussels, IÂ'd choose here anytime,Â" he said. Â"WeÂ're very spoiled in this city. Â"Apartments are cheap and of high quality, the restaurants are great and getting around the city is easy.Â"
The view of downtown Brussels from Mr. Svingen's terrace.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company>
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