The Brussels-Capital Region is looking to establish a comprehensive registration system for housing rental contracts to list housing costs per neighbourhood. The system aims to combat exorbitant rents in the city.
The majority of residents in the Region rent the home they live in, but in recent years this has become increasingly unaffordable. The median cost of rental housing has risen by over 15% in just two years, and the cost of this rent weighs more and more heavily on many families' monthly budgets. The share of affordable housing is also rapidly decreasing and more than 55,000 people are currently on waiting lists for social housing.
The Region has, however, started to respond to this acute housing crisis with various measures, such as buying 25% of large developments to turn them into social housing. Another step now being considered focuses on monitoring the housing market more efficiently to combat excessive rents: a Brussels database of all rental contracts.
The Brussels Parliament's housing committee will discuss the government proposal, put forward by State Secretary for Housing Nawal Ben Hamou (PS), on Thursday, Bruzz reported. If approved, the Region will set up a registration system for housing rental contracts, which would be "the most complete possible monitoring of current rental contracts."
Price per neighbourhood
Based on the database, which will incorporate all rental contracts, the Region will create a "price grid" with indicative rents for each housing type for each neighbourhood – an improved version of the current tool.
This should serve as a reference for the market. Differentiation per neighbourhood is necessary because there are large discrepancies in Brussels' housing market. The difference between the lowest and highest median price was around €400,000 in 2023.
As part of the system, landlords would also have to report characteristics in their property, such as the number of rooms and energy efficiency. This will support the final part of the policy proposals: a "joint rent committee". In the event of a tenant complaint, this jury would have to decide whether the requested rent is reasonable based on the database. Both tenants' associations and owner-landlords are expected to have a say in the committee.
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However, the government's proposals are a sensitive matter. While tenants' organisations are overwhelmingly in favour of more government intervention, housing owners strongly oppose such measures.
Their interest groups warn that small private landlords in particular will drop out, also because of the additional administrative burden. Others fear this detailed database will open the door to additional regional taxes.
Another dark cloud over the plans is the many privacy and jurisdiction issues.
