Schaerbeek care home could close, putting 87 jobs at risk

The Schaerbeek public centre for social welfare (CPAS) has announced plans to close the Albert de Latour residential care centre, putting 87 jobs at risk and leaving 90 residents in need of new housing.

The mandatory renovation of the retirement home would apparently be too expensive, RTBF reports, and without renovations the institution will have to close by 1 January 2026.

According to the CPAS, the estimated cost for renovations is over €23 million and without it, the building no longer meets regional safety standards. The CPAS currently carries a deficit of around €20 million due to previous accounting errors.

“The joint trade union front was shocked when it learned from the press that the Albert de Latour residential care centre in Schaerbeek will close – to date, not a single trade union organisation has been informed of this decision,” unions said.

Schaerbeek CPAS said it would consider the case but that any decision would be postponed until a new municipal council is in place following last year's elections.

The CPAS said it that it would like to renovate the retirement home and that “a plan has been ready for a long time”.

“But the municipality must make sufficient funds available for this and the financial picture does not look bright,” acting CPAS chairwoman France Blanmailland told Bruzz.

A manager at the retirement home said she was shocked about the potential closure. "We had to learn the news from the press," she said. "Not even the management was aware of the plans. We’re now waiting for more details and are left in great uncertainty as long as the CPAS doesn’t communicate.”

Carine Rosteleur of the ACOD Brussels union criticised the attitude of the municipality of Schaarbeek, saying the proposal is “incomprehensible”.

“It leaves a very vulnerable group of elderly people out in the cold, because the residents of a public welfare centre retirement home are mainly people who are not well off,” Rosteleur said, adding that the proposal fits a growing trend in Brussels.

“Nursing homes are expensive, and those run by the CPAS are by definition loss-making. All municipalities and CPASs are trying to save money, and they are looking at nursing homes and home care workers, because they are not obliged to have them.

"For example, the CPAS of Etterbeek has already closed a residential care centre, and I also know of a retirement home in Watermael-Boitsfort which the CPAS is considering closing down."

Rosteleur warned that the situation is likely to worsen under the new federal government, dubbed Arizona.

“This is a direct result of the Arizona policy: the unemployment reform will put a lot of financial pressure on CPASs, because people who lose their benefits will turn to them for a living wage,” said Rosteleur.

“The federal government is imposing this without providing extra support for the municipalities and CPASs. That’s irresponsible. It’s important that a public option remains available for residents who cannot afford a private nursing home. Otherwise they risk having nowhere to go or their family having to pay for their care.”

Acting CPAS chair Blanmailland reiterates that no final decision has been made yet and that decision will not come until 28 May.

Mathieu Verhaegen of the ACOD-CGSP trade union said it hoped that the CPAS will look into every possible alternative before closing, and that the unions will do the same despite the short deadline of 1 January 2026.

“We hope that they’ll come up with another solution,” Verhaegen said.

“Either they find a new building, or they have to carry out the renovation after all. Closing everything down is not a solution.”