Why the housing register needs a little "detective work"

A software is projected onto the wall in the office of Dudelange city architect Cathy Mambourg. The programme shows a map of the town in the south of the country. The employees of the Dudelange municipal service Architecture et Domaines can use it to call up all the local addresses. The one on Duerf-Platz, for example, shows a residential complex with eight flats and four studios. A further click reveals whether the individual floors are occupied or who lives there.

Information like this will be crucial for Dudelange and the 99 remaining municipalities in Luxembourg in the future. This is because, according to the government's plans, vacancies are to be taxed more heavily in future (see info box). The aim is to encourage owners not to leave houses or flats unoccupied for months or years, but to rent or sell them in order to help increase the supply of housing in the context of Luxembourg's housing crisis.