French buy five Brussels houses every day

Wealthy French families are buying five to six properties in Brussels every day, De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad report. Estate agent Engel & Völkers sells on average one house a day to French buyers. Last year, 800 French families left their country to settle abroad. This ongoing Brussels exodus is a direct consequence of new French president François Hollande’s heavy ‘wealth tax’ policy. The inner-Brussels areas favoured by the French are Uccle (pictured), Ixelles and Watermael-Boitsfort, while Lasne and Saint-Genesius-Rode are the most popular suburbs.