Anderlecht: improving transparency, livestream debate

A large working-class municipality in digital transition

Anderlecht is the third most populated municipality in the Brussels Region, with over 123,000 inhabitants. Historically working-class and multicultural, it faces significant challenges in housing, employment, and social cohesion.

Transparency: 4 out of 6 criteria

Anderlecht meets four of the six BGM monitoring criteria. The budget is published online, municipal council minutes are accessible, the mandate registry is available, and the municipality has a citizen participation platform (Decidim). However, it does not have its own Open Data portal, and the council livestream is classified as "partial" due to debates over its continuation.

Citizen participation: Decidim

Anderlecht uses the Decidim platform (participez.anderlecht.be) to allow citizens to propose and debate municipal projects. Participatory budgets by neighbourhood are organised regularly.

The livestream question

Anderlecht's municipal council introduced a livestream of its sessions, but this has been subject to debate regarding its continuation. Some elected officials have questioned the cost and usefulness of the system. BGM classifies this indicator as "partial" as long as the livestream is not guaranteed as a permanent practice.

Budget 2026 and new taxes

Anderlecht's 2026 budget is presented as balanced and submitted for council vote on 5 March 2026. Among the new tax measures: a tax on hookah tobacco outlets and a tax on fast-food restaurants. The resident parking card increases from 15 to 30 EUR.

CPAS under pressure

Anderlecht's CPAS (Public Centre for Social Welfare) faces growing pressure, with approximately 6,000 recipients of the social integration income (RIS). The CPAS budgetary situation is a major issue in municipal policy.

Foyer anderlechtois: regional commission of inquiry (June 2026)

Following suspicions of clientelism in the allocation of social housing by the Foyer anderlechtois (public service real-estate company, SISP) — revealed by a Pano (VRT) report and followed by searches confirmed by the Brussels public prosecutor's office on 28 May 2026 — the Brussels Parliament approved, on 1 June 2026, the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry in a short and intensive version, running until 21 July 2026. On 2 June, the Brussels Parliament's ethics committee postponed its review of the housing alderman's case, citing the ongoing criminal investigations, and Anderlecht's municipal college decided not to take any measure against him. The suspicions are not confirmed at this stage (presumption of innocence).

On 5 June 2026, BRUZZ reports that Parliament will give the formal start to the committee the week of 8 June. The MR denounces the allocation of a Foyer building to vzw Yamry for EUR 60/month, an association linked to a former Foyer official implicated in the ongoing investigations.

The full institutional follow-up is on the Institutional card.

Sources: BRUZZ (5 June 2026); BRUZZ (5 June 2026).

Parking plan for Goede Luchtwijk / Bon Air (3 July 2026)

Following a citizen consultation on two scenarios, Anderlecht's municipal college approved, in early July, a plan to regularise parking in the Goede Luchtwijk (Bon Air) neighbourhood, where 363 of the 466 existing spaces had been used illegally since a redevelopment of the road layout in 2023 (parking enforcement there had in fact been suspended in April 2025 for lack of an applicable framework).

The adopted plan provides for approximately 340 regulated parking spaces, as well as turning the neighbourhood into a zone de rencontre (speed limited to 20 km/h, shared use of the road by pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles). Implementation is targeted for sometime in 2027, subject to the opinions of emergency services and police.

Sources: BX1 (3 July 2026); RTBF (3 July 2026); La DH/Les Sports+ (3 July 2026). Confidence: official (decision by the municipal college, reported identically by 3 independent sources).

Major fire at avenue Maurice Herbette (7 June 2026)

On 7 June 2026, a major fire broke out in a warehouse at avenue Maurice Herbette in Anderlecht. A municipal emergency phase was declared and then lifted after the fire was brought under control. Heavy black smoke spread over the neighbourhood. Residents were asked to keep windows and doors closed during the intervention.

Source: Le Soir (6 June 2026).