Wall of containers placed in front of homes in Ixelles

A wall of pre-fab containers stacked three stories high on Rue Jules Bouillon in Ixelles - used by a nearby construction site - is causing a major headache for residents.

“The containers are now inhabited, which means I have no privacy,” one affected resident wrote on social media, sharing photos that revealed she could even physically touch the containers from her balcony because of how close they were placed to her building.

“Is it normal for the municipality of Ixelles to authorise such an installation that completely blocks the view and light?”

The resident told La Capitale that construction site workers - who use the containers as changing and rest rooms - can see directly into her flat through the windows of the containers, and that while the municipality sent a letter explaining the containers were coming, it did not specify how long they would be there.

They could be there for at least three years, Bruzz reports.

“You can't see the sun,” another affected resident told RTBF, adding that she never received advance notice that the containers would be placed there. “I left for work in the morning and when I came home, I saw them in front of my house.”

Another resident said the presence of the massive wall of containers that obstructs their view from their windows made them feel as though they were in prison.

“There's no landscape, all you can see are walls and it's not pleasant at all, especially with the noise,” the resident said. “Children lose their concentration very quickly, it's very disturbing.”

The containers were placed as part of extensive renovations of the Ixelles Atheneum secondary school planned for the coming year.

“The placement of the containers was not done according to the conditions approved by the municipality, both in terms of height and in terms of free space on the public road,” said alderman for urban renewal Nevruz Unal (PS) in response to the complaints from residents.

According to Unal, the construction company has already been instructed to look into the matter and the municipality wants to help find a more suitable place for the containers as soon as possible.

Whether sanctions against the construction company were a possibility, Unal could not yet say, noting that the company in question has worked with the municipality in the past without issues.