A housing cooperative has launched a website to inform renters in Brussels and Wallonia of their rights when it comes to indexation.
When the energy crisis peaked in October 2022, all three regions in Belgium took two emergency measures: a ban on evictions and a limit on indexation for homes with poor energy retention (an EPB certificate with a score lower than D, or no EPB certificate at all).
However, the latter measure was lifted in November 2023 despite the fact that 75% of Walloon residents live in "energy porous" buildings. The return to indexation has been denounced by the Walloon Campaign for the Right to Housing (RWDH), which has since created a tool in service of renters who have again been subjected to indexation.
'Touche pas à mon loyer' ('Don't Touch My Rent') aims to inform renters of their rights, calculate the amount of indexation legally authorised and provide legal advice and up-to-date information about legislative changes that affect landlords and tenants.
'Measures that genuinely protect tenants'
RDWH takes particular issue with a new method landlords are advised to use to calculate indexation and warn that it is prone to errors. "Many landlords will no doubt be unaware of the calculation methods, and may therefore apply a higher, illegal increase," according to the organisation. "Conversely, it is difficult for tenants to understand the mechanism and check."
The initiative also seeks to highlight the political element of indexation. The decision to resume indexation "marks the collapse of hopes of seeing the emergence of measures that genuinely protect tenants," Charlotte Renouprez, a member of the Brussels Accommodation Platform, told La Libre. "The decent and affordable housing crisis is a major societal issue and we hope it will be treated as such."
Energy efficiency
Not only do poorly insulated homes put disproportionate pressure on low-income families, they come at an enormous environmental cost. One in three buildings in Brussels are not insulated at all and buildings account for more than half of the region's carbon emissions.
In February, outgoing Brussels Environment Minister Alain Maron (Ecolo) announced that all homes in the region were required to have an EPB certificate by the end of 2030, underlining both the environmental and social benefits of such a measure. "By guaranteeing home insulation, we ensure a fair transition and homes in which everyone can live with dignity," he said at the time.
According to the new law, homes with EPB scores F and G (the lowest possible) will be renovated by 2033, and homes with D and E will be renovated by 2045.
