With nearly half of Brussels’ students attending classes on its territory, Ixelles has long branded itself as the student municipality par excellence – but this may soon all change.
Faced with the rapid multiplication of student housing projects, local authorities now want to impose stricter rules to avoid what they describe as a "speculative bubble".
The municipality unveiled on Thursday, 21 May, a new framework aimed at regulating the development of student accommodation on its territory. While Ixelles says it remains open to new projects, it will now require developers to comply with six specific criteria intended to preserve neighbourhood diversity and quality of life.
According to the municipality, around 45% of students in the Brussels Region attend classes daily in Ixelles, notably thanks to the presence of Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
The municipality currently counts nearly 4,900 identified student housing units, while another 2,450 units are planned or under review through projects such as Universalis Park and Usquare.
Concerns over concentration
Local authorities say that in some neighbourhoods around the Solbosch and Plaine campuses, the growing concentration of student residences is starting to affect social diversity, access to housing for permanent residents and the general quality of life.
The municipality also warns against interpreting the shortage of dedicated student housing too simplistically. While Brussels counts around 37,000 higher education students living away from the family home, only around 11,300 purpose-built student units are available across the Region.
Usquare in Ixelles
However, Ixelles argues that this does not automatically mean Brussels needs tens of thousands of additional student rooms. "A significant proportion of these students simply do not wish to live in dedicated residences," the municipality said in a statement.
Mayor Romain De Reusme (PS) criticised what he described as the "financialisation" of student housing.
"Wherever these projects are marketed, they are presented as profitable investments rather than as a response to young people’s needs," he said. "Ixelles must no longer become a land of speculation."
New conditions for developers
Since March 2025, major student housing developments in Ixelles have already been required to include at least 15% affordable units. The commune has also launched a monitoring system with Perspective Brussels to better assess the actual needs of the student housing market.
Under the new guidelines, future projects will need to meet six conditions. Among them are minimum room sizes of 12 square metres, adequate communal spaces and sanitary facilities, and integration into so-called “15-minute city” neighbourhoods with nearby shops and services.
Illustration picture shows a student protest march following multiple testimonies of victims of sexual violence in two bars in the Cimetiere d'Ixelles quarter in Brussels, Thursday, 14 October 2021. Credit: Belga
The municipality also wants to prioritise the redevelopment of existing buildings rather than new large-scale construction. Developers are being tasked with ensuring that all future student residences can eventually be converted into traditional housing if demand changes over time.
Particular attention will also be given to projects linked directly to universities or developed in partnership with academic institutions.
For Julie de Groote (Les Engagés), the councillor in charge of Urbanism, the municipality wants to avoid repeating past mistakes.
"Ixelles has already experienced the effects of an oversupply of office buildings, which left empty buildings for years," she said. "We do not want to reproduce this scenario with student housing."
