Census of homeless people

What is it about?

In Belgium and throughout Europe, homelessness is a major social challenge. Since 2020, the Foundation, with the research teams of LUCAS KU Leuven and UCLouvain CIRTES, has been working to establish regular uniform censuses throughout the country in order to collect comparable figures. Clear data on the scope of the phenomenon and the profile of the target group is necessary for an efficient policy to tackle homelessness.

Following an initial census at the end of 2020 in the cities of Arlon, Liège and Ghent and the province of Limburg, a similar exercise was conducted at the end of 2021 in the cities of Charleroi and Namur, in South-West Flanders and in the BraViO frontline zone around Vilvoorde. In 2022, an upscaling took place in Flanders thanks to the support of the regional government, enabling point-in-time counts in 6 different regions: Boom-Mechelen-Lier, Arrondissement Brugge, Midwest, Middenkust, (zorg)regio Kempen, Waasland. Counts took also place in the German-speaking Community, Brabant Wallon and Tournai.

For this third census, the King Baudouin Foundation and the research teams – led by Prof Koen Hermans of LUCAS KU Leuven and Prof Martin Wagener of UCLouvain CIRTES – benefited from the commitment and support of local public services and many associations, institutions and volunteers.

Who are these homeless people? What is their profile? What is the less visible side of this phenomenon? On the following pages you can find an analysis of their characteristics.

CENSUS 2022

Discover here the results of the 2022 censuses in Boom-Mechelen-Lier, Arrondissement Brugge, Midwest, Middenkust, (zorg) regio Kempen, Waasland, Doornik, Waals Brabant and the Germanspeaking community.

CENSUS 2021

Discover here the results of the 2021 censuses in South-West Flanders, the BraViO frontline zone, and Charleroi and Liège.

CENSUS 2020

Discover here the results of the 2020 censuses in Limburg, Ghent, Arlon and Liège.