Office figures: No published office-vacancy figure for Ghent was found (8 Oct 2026); broker reports cover Brussels and Antwerp. Homes: our economic model’s conversion engine. Map built 2026-10-09.
One point per building, from public records, open data and cited reports. Filter by type, size and how sure the evidence is; open one to see who says so and whether it could become homes.
Ghent's vacancy register (about 706 homes in February 2023) names owners and is not published; only totals are.
Check any building in Ghent: could it become homes, and could the EHC model work there?
The articles do not give an address we could place, so these have no pin yet. From news reports, summed up in our own words with a link to each article — not checked on site by EHC.
The districts where empty space, the right zoning and a working neighbourhood come together, and the owners and programmes that open a door.
The densest cluster of city buildings for sale or long lease, many of them monuments.
Risk: Heritage rules and market-rate leases; some keep cultural users (the Caermersklooster must keep its arts use for 20 years).
A former factory site the city owns, with four buildings for sale and a shed in temporary use.
Risk: Part of a larger redevelopment; industrial sheds may need full conversion.
Libraries, depots and community centres the city wants to turn into affordable homes.
Risk: Libraries move only once a new location is found; affordable housing goes to Thuispunt or sogent first.
Community buildings for affordable housing or lease, next to Flanders' first community land trust homes.
Risk: Neighbourhood functions must be rehoused first.
Cinema Rex, a long-empty protected cinema now owned by sogent.
Risk: sogent plans to restore it as a city attraction; homes are not mentioned.
Decisions, auctions and closures that change what becomes available, and when.
sogent's open call asks landowners and developers for projects with at least 40% affordable rent.
Under the multi-year plan 2026–2031: 50 for sale or long lease, 31 for affordable housing, others passed on for city uses or leases ended.
14 of the 17 churches marked in 2016 have a new use; the plan for 2026–2031 finishes the last three.
The city sought a manager for two years' temporary use of the eastern shed; the site awaits redevelopment.
The derelict protected cinema at Gent-Sint-Pieters, empty for years, is to be renovated.
26 sources connected, 1 waiting for access. We only use data we may lawfully reuse; where a publisher blocks automated access we do not work around it — a person downloads it, or we ask for permission.
| Source | Access | Records | Status | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenStreetMap disused/abandoned tags and brownfields OpenStreetMap contributors | Open API | 53 | Live 2026-10-09 | ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors) |
| Rail, S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations (OpenStreetMap) OpenStreetMap contributors | Open API | scoring | Live 2026-10-09 | ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors) |
| Building heights: GlobalBuildingAtlas (TU Munich) Zhu, X. X., Chen, S., Zhang, F., Shi, Y., Wang, Y. (2025), Technical University of Munich GlobalBuildingAtlas: an open global and complete dataset of building polygons, heights and LoD1 3D models. Earth System Science Data 17(12), 6647–6668, doi:10.5194/essd-17-6647-2025. Read from the Parquet copy on Source Cooperative. Satellite-derived heights (typically 1.5–3 m error in Europe), turned into storeys with storey heights fitted on Berlin; used only where no register or official 3D model sizes the building. | Open download | 736 buildings sized | Live 2026-10-09 | CC BY-NC 4.0 (heights); footprints from OpenStreetMap and Microsoft: ODbL |
| Road noise (EU Environmental Noise Directive, Lden) European Environment Agency | Open API | scoring | Live 2026-10-09 | EEA standard re-use policy (attribution) |
| Leerstandsmelder.de — public reports of empty buildings Leerstandsmelder (Gängeviertel e.V., Hamburg) Shown while we ask Leerstandsmelder for permission. Reports since 2016 only, with the address, the month reported and a link to each entry; not checked by EHC. Each point says when a report has since been marked demolished, lived in, in interim use or rebuilt on Leerstandsmelder, and the owner type the reporter gave (private owners are never named). | Asking for permission | 0 | Pending 2026-10-09 | Credited to Leerstandsmelder.de; asking for permission |
| Open-ended property funds: buildings they report partly empty Open-ended real-estate funds (each point names its fund and report) German and Austrian open-ended public property funds must list every property with its vacancy (or letting) rate in their annual and half-year reports. scripts/reuse/import-fund-reports.ts reads those lists; properties at 10 % vacancy or more are shown, those at 25 % or more count as evidence. | Open download | 0 | Live 2026-10-09 | Published fund report (KAGB / KARBV property list), cited per point |
| Co-working spaces, department stores, banks, hotels and cinemas listed as permanently closed Overture Maps Foundation (closure data: BrightQuery company records) Places with operating_status "permanently_closed" in the monthly Overture release, read by scripts/reuse/import-overture-closures.ts and matched to the building they sit in. A closed business is usually one unit; names are shown only for companies, never for sole traders. | Open download | 0 | Live 2026-10-09 | CDLA Permissive 2.0 (Overture Maps Foundation) |
| Land without current use and stalled construction, mapped from satellite imagery (Copernicus Urban Atlas 2006–2018) European Environment Agency — Copernicus Land Monitoring Service Urban Atlas class 13400 (brownfields, demolition sites and gaps in the built-up area, 0.25 ha and up) compared across the 2006, 2012 and 2018 editions, so each plot says how long it has stood unused; plus construction sites (13300) already under way in 2012, and 2012 construction sites left unused by 2018. Read from the EEA's open ArcGIS services, the same way in every radar city. The 2021 edition (Copernicus Data Space) drops plots built on since 2018 where scripts/reuse/import-urban-atlas-2021.ts has been run. Points are context, never evidence of vacancy. | Open API | 57 | Live 2026-10-09 | Copernicus open data (© European Union, Copernicus Land Monitoring Service 2006–2021, EEA) |
| Stalled construction and buildings held by insolvent developers EHC research (dated press and court sources per point) Signa, Adler/Consus and other developer insolvencies since 2022 and stalled sites, each with its latest dated status (src/scripts/data/reuse/stalled-projects.json; news leads from scripts/reuse/mine-news.ts are reviewed before they join). | EHC research | 0 | Live 2026-10-09 | Cited publisher per point |
| Church buildings the dioceses and regional churches plan to give up Catholic dioceses and Protestant regional churches (their building plans), via EHC research Buildings a church body’s published building plan or recent reporting names as to be given up, without church funding, for sale or lease, or profaned (src/scripts/data/reuse/church-plans.json and brussels-churches.json). | EHC research | 0 | Live 2026-10-09 | Cited publisher per point |
| Named buildings and sites from EHC research (each with its own source) European Housing Coop research Includes the library’s public lighthouse conversions (src/scripts/data/reuse/lighthouses.json), shown under "Already converting" with a link to their library page. | EHC research | 4 | Live 2026-10-09 | Facts cited to their publishers |
| Year built and listing: OpenStreetMap building tags OpenStreetMap contributors start_date / construction_date and heritage / listed_status of the OpenStreetMap outline a record is matched to, where no register answers. Read with the outline match, not a separate query. | Open API | scoring | Live 2026-10-09 | ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors) |
| Empty and neglected business premises (Flemish inventory) Departement Omgeving (Vlaanderen) — Inventaris leegstand en/of verwaarlozing van bedrijfsruimte, kept by the municipalities | Open API | 37 | Live 2026-10-09 | Gebruiksrecht geografische webdiensten (Digitaal Vlaanderen / GDI-Vlaanderen); no restriction on public access |
| City buildings to be sold or leased (2026–2031) Stad Gent — Facility Management / Vastgoed (list of buildings to be disposed of, multi-year plan 2026–2031) | Manual download | 49 | Snapshot 2025-12-01 | No licence stated on the list (a public city document) — shown with credit to the City of Ghent; positions from 'Eigendommen stad Gent' (Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik) |
| City buildings earmarked for affordable housing (2026–2031) Stad Gent — Facility Management / Vastgoed (list of buildings to be disposed of, multi-year plan 2026–2031) | Manual download | 31 | Snapshot 2025-12-01 | No licence stated on the list (a public city document) — shown with credit to the City of Ghent; positions from 'Eigendommen stad Gent' (Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik) |
| City buildings on the disposal list kept for a city policy use Stad Gent — Facility Management / Vastgoed (list of buildings to be disposed of, multi-year plan 2026–2031) | Manual download | 20 | Snapshot 2025-12-01 | No licence stated on the list (a public city document) — shown with credit to the City of Ghent; positions from 'Eigendommen stad Gent' (Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik) |
| City property recorded as former, temporary use, to sell or to demolish Stad Gent — Eigendommen stad Gent (open data) | Open API | 26 | Live 2026-10-09 | Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik (Vlaanderen) |
| Buildings owned by the City of Ghent, OCMW or sogent Stad Gent — Eigendommen stad Gent (open data) | Open API | 543 | Live 2026-10-09 | Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik (Vlaanderen) |
| Flemish government buildings recorded as empty, unfit or for sale Digitaal Vlaanderen / Agentschap Facilitair Bedrijf — Gebouwen van Vlaamse en lokale overheden (Terra patrimonium database) | Open API | 3 | Live 2026-10-09 | Gebruiksrecht geografische webdiensten (Digitaal Vlaanderen / GDI-Vlaanderen); no restriction on public access |
| Buildings of the Flemish government (offices, schools, culture, homes) Digitaal Vlaanderen / Agentschap Facilitair Bedrijf — Gebouwen van Vlaamse en lokale overheden (Terra patrimonium database) | Open API | 55 | Live 2026-10-09 | Gebruiksrecht geografische webdiensten (Digitaal Vlaanderen / GDI-Vlaanderen); no restriction on public access |
| Office buildings mapped in OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap contributors | Open API | 100 | Live 2026-10-09 | ODbL 1.0 |
| Municipal spatial implementation plans adopted since 2015 (RUP) Departement Omgeving — Digitaal Stedenbouwkundig Informatiesysteem (DSI), gemeentelijke RUP contouren | Open API | 13 | Live 2026-10-09 | Gebruiksrecht geografische webdiensten (Digitaal Vlaanderen / GDI-Vlaanderen); no restriction on public access |
| Brownfield land (OpenStreetMap) OpenStreetMap contributors | Open API | 18 | Live 2026-10-09 | ODbL 1.0 |
| Flemish government real-estate sales: Oud Provinciehuis, Gouvernementstraat 1 (free of use) Vlaamse Overheid, Dienst Vastgoedtransacties — for the Province of East Flanders and the Belgian State (also on regiedesbatiments.be) | Open download | 1 | Live 2026-10-09 | not stated — credited to the publisher |
| Buildings named in the news (each with its article) Local and national press, read by EHC Buildings the news reports empty, for sale or to let, to be demolished or being converted (src/scripts/data/reuse/news-building-leads.json; rules in src/lib/reuse/news-layer.ts). A report that names a building already on the map is shown on its card instead of a second point; one an open source contradicted, or that says the building is in use, is left out. Not checked on site. | EHC research | 3 | Live 2026-10-14 | Facts with a link to the article; the one-line summary is ours — no article text is republished |
| Year built: Flemish heritage inventory (Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed) Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed (Vlaanderen) The dating of the inventoried building a record sits in (bulk outlines), as the inventory states it — usually a period such as “second half of the 19th century” (1851–1900). Only inventoried buildings are dated. | Open download | scoring | Live 2026-10-14 | Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik Vlaanderen v1.2 |
| Probable era: estimated from a street photo (Panoramax, Mapillary, Google Street View) Panoramax and Mapillary contributors; Google Street View (research use agreed with Google, 14 Oct 2026); estimate by EHC with a vision model Where no register dates a building: its era read from a Panoramax or Mapillary photo looking at it — Google Street View only where no open photo answers (scripts/reuse/estimate-photo-eras.ts), only when the building is clearly visible and the model is confident, and only as “before 1945” or “1945 or later” — the split it got right for 89% of buildings with a register year in Amsterdam and Paris, and 89% from Street View pictures alone (photo-eras/calibration.json). An estimate: a sentence in the conversion check, never points. | Open API | scoring | Live 2026-10-14 | Open photos CC BY-SA 4.0 or Licence Ouverte 2.0 (per picture); Street View read for research only, never stored or shown; only the estimated era is published, never a photo |
Open data cannot see everything. Tell us about a building in Ghent that stands empty or barely used; once we have checked it, it joins the map under “Reported by visitors (checked)”.
The other radars in the same country and the nearest beyond. All 149 cities in the atlas
The figure on each card: empty buildings on record.