Transfer of land paves the way for affordable student housing on Diepenbeek campus

In the long term, POM Limburg aims to realise around 400 student rooms on the campus in several phases, in order to strengthen student life on campus. “This will happen in phases, in consultation with the municipality of Diepenbeek and in cooperation with the educational institutions,” says Tom Vandeput, Deputy for Economy and chairman of POM Limburg. “The university and university colleges previously indicated that it was not possible for them to realise these student rooms within the framework of a Flemish subsidy. POM Limburg will therefore now take care of this development. The intention is to realise so-called ‘basic student rooms’: affordable student housing with basic facilities.”

Cooperation with the private sector
“We want to realise these student rooms together with the private sector, just as we have already done in other projects. One of the basic principles of POM Limburg is that we do not want to compete with the private sector in any way using public funds. Just as we always give LRM priority for return-driven investments, for example on the Health Campus. As an economic director, POM Limburg should primarily focus on the social added value that such an ecosystem creates for Limburg,” explains Noël Slangen, managing director of POM Limburg.

“Currently, around 200 million euros is being invested on the Limburg DC campus in Diepenbeek by the various partners. Any proceeds from land transactions will be fully reinvested in the campus. This was also laid down in the decision of the provincial council,” says Tom Vandeput.

Green campus and further development
“We want to transform the campus into a green and livable campus with slow mobility connections, inspired by the American model. The central parking area purchased by the province and now transferred will make way for a green heart. To accommodate parking pressure, Limburg DC nv, a subsidiary of POM Limburg governed together with the educational institutions and the municipality of Diepenbeek, has already successfully realised two parking buildings on the campus, providing 840 parking spaces,” says Slangen.

“The transfer is also important for the further development of the Health Campus, for which a business district was provided in the master plan. The Construction Campus will also be realised on the land that is now being transferred,” says Tom Vandeput. “POM Limburg is also responsible for the realisation of the infrastructure and the striking network of paths through nature, which was realised with support from VLAIO. That natural environment is also currently being enhanced in cooperation with Natuurpunt.”

Stronger foundation for future investments
The transfer is essential to be able to rely on subsidies from higher authorities in the future, in particular European ERDF funding. “Due to state aid regulations, we are obliged to use private funding in the form of bank loans for our campus investments. POM Limburg has not requested guarantees from the provincial government for this, although this is usually the case in other provinces. Thanks to this transfer, POM Limburg is increasing its creditworthiness. That seems to me to be a very effective use of the public funds with which the provincial government works,” concludes Tom Vandeput.