In its long-term renovation strategy for buildings on its territory, the Brussels-Capital Region has used the term Renolution. One can read into it whatever one wishes: renovation, resolution, solution, evolution, revolution, or even a combination of all of these. In this blog, we will explore the issue in greater depth.
Global warming is an issue that affects the entire world. Climate targets are being set in all corners of the globe based on local circumstances. This is also the case in Europe, and more specifically in Brussels. The website environnement.brussels states that Brussels buildings are among the most energy-intensive in Europe. They are responsible for no less than 56% of greenhouse gas emissions. A third of the buildings are said to be completely uninsulated. In the capital of Europe, the challenges are huge...
Renovation is urgently needed
Owners of properties in Brussels will now be obliged to make their houses or flats more energy efficient. A small number will not need to take any action in the short term. Some will only need to replace their windows or insulate their roofs. Others are planning major renovation work that goes beyond energy-saving investments.
The PEB certificate (EPB in dutch) plays an important role in the Renolution strategy of the Brussels authorities. It is intended to help property owners with their investment decisions in terms of insulation, ventilation, heating, etc. For the government, it is a measuring tool to check whether average energy performance is gradually improving. The certificate indicates the energy class, from A++ (very energy efficient) to G (very energy intensive).
By 2050, Brussels homes should achieve an average energy performance level of 100 kWh/m2/year. For information: current average consumption is three times higher. By 2033, all homes must achieve the PEB275 target, in other words, consume no more than 275 kWh/m2/year, which currently corresponds to the worst energy classes F and G. By 2045, all homes must achieve the PEB150 target. Homes that currently fall into energy class D or E will then no longer be permitted.
Current situation
On 1/1/2025, 44.1% of Brussels homes had a valid PEB certificate. In the period 2011-2024, 406,785 PEB certificates were issued, of which 57.32% meet the PEB target of 275 kWh/m²/year and 19.16% meet the target of 150 kWh/m²/year. These figures give the false impression that the energy performance of currently certified homes is not so bad. However, until 2025, possession of a PEB certificate was only mandatory for homes larger than 18m2 that were offered for sale or rent. The figures therefore also include newly built dwellings, as well as many properties that were renovated between 2011 and 2024.
From 2025 onwards, all dwellings – regardless of whether they are planned to be sold or rented out – must have a PEBcertificate, and the owner will be obliged to carry out certain works necessary to achieve a minimum energy performance. Given that the Brussels Region has many old buildings that have not been invested in for a long time, it is to be expected that large numbers of PEB certificates with energy classes F and G will be issued in the near future. The Brussels Region still has a long way to go in terms of reducing fossil fuels as an energy source for heating. For buildings that were issued with a PEB certificate between 2011 and 2024, gas was the main energy source (81%), followed by heating oil (around 12%). Electricity as the main energy source accounted for around 5% of the total.
For those interested, see below the data from the 2021 Census regarding the construction period of the 525,706 dwellings that were occupied on 1/1/2021 in the Brussels Region.
156,312 dwellings (24%) date from before 1919 and are therefore more than 100 years old. It is striking that the number of rental properties in this segment is even higher than average: 69% tenants versus 31% owner-occupiers (the average ratio of tenants to owner-occupiers is 62% versus 38%). Between 1919 and 1945, 99,131 homes were built (20% of the total). Between 1946 and 1980, 188,200 homes were added (accounting for 40% of the total). The most recent dwellings, built after 1980, represent only 16% of the total number of dwellings.
Who will pull the renovation cart?
The initiative for energy renovation will have to come from owners and investors. The vast majority (94%) of players in the residential property market in Brussels are private individuals. The 40,000 publicly owned homes represent only 6% of the total stock of over 600,000 homes.
But who are the owners of residential property in Brussels? In general, little recent data is available on this. In 2021, a team of 25 data and investigative journalists, led by Arena for Journalism in Europe, mapped out how pension funds and other large institutional investors are buying up homes on a large scale in various capitals in their Cities for Rentinvestigation. An investigative journalist from Apache took part in this investigation and studied the situation in Brussels. Below are some figures from the article (in Dutch) ‘Wie bezit Brussel?’ (Who owns Brussels?). For the link to the full article, see the list of sources consulted at the bottom of this blog.
- Nearly 343,000 Brussels residents own a cadastral parcel for housing in the Brussels Region. This means that around 72% of the owners of cadastral parcels for housing are Brussels residents.
- Almost 23% of owners (more than 108,000 people) live in Belgium outside the Brussels Region
- 1.1% of owners (5,238 people) live outside Belgium
- More than 19,000 plots, or 3.99% of cadastral plots for housing in Brussels, are owned by a company. Compared to other European cities, this proportion is very low. However, four years have passed since then, and the proportions may have changed.
Six out of ten Brussels residents who own a cadastral plot in the Brussels Region also live there. The majority (65%) of owners have one plot, while 19%, 8%, 3.5% and 4.8% of owners have two, three, four or five or more plots respectively.
Renovating because it's required
The residential property market in Brussels is made up of many “small” players, alongside a few large companies. The fragmentation of ownership, combined with the high proportion of properties intended for rental, has a number of consequences.
Many apartment buildings are co-owned, and a large number of owners attend the annual General Meeting. Decisions on upcoming investments relating to the common areas of the building are not made overnight. Discussions can sometimes become heated. Some owners live in their property themselves, while others rent it out. There are often differences of opinion about the nature and urgency of the investments, not to mention their financial feasibility.
In addition to 41,000 apartment buildings, Brussels also has around 125,000 houses. The latter are for the most part terraced houses with 3, 4 or 5 floors. Sometimes they are occupied by a single household, but often they are divided into several residential units that may or may not belong to the same owner. The number of owners may be smaller, but this does not necessarily make the decision to renovate the building any easier.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Where the property manager and the co-ownership council work together constructively, where the help of experts is called in, where investment dossiers are well prepared and communicated, profitable investments are indeed feasible. Economies of scale often play a role. The French-language newspaper L'Echo of 27/9/2025 featured an interesting report on an apartment complex in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert with 500 co-owners. Without a single euro in the reserve fund, they invested €3.4 million in renovation (energy renovation and other investments). For the energy renovation, they hired a company that specialises in energy renovations for co-owned properties. This company oversaw the renovation from the concept phase to the installation of the new energy infrastructure. It even took care of the financing and will remain responsible for the operation of the new installations in the future. The renovation has reduced the residents' energy bills by an average of €1,000 per year. For the link to the article, see the list of sources consulted at the bottom of this blog.
Renovating because it pays off
For many owners, planning and financing an energy renovation is not obvious. They have to step out of their comfort zone to delve into technical construction issues. It takes time and energy to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of possible alternatives, including the preparation of a subsidy dossier. Nevertheless, most are satisfied afterhand. The quality of the home has improved, with better insulation and ventilation. Energy bills are lower. Significantly fewer greenhouse gases are emitted. The sale value of the home has increased. There is a sense of relief because the home now complies with the norm. Satisfied customers spread the word and motivate those around them to get started too.
It is not uncommon for an energy renovation to be combined with other investments, whether or not they are required. There are still countless addresses in Brussels where the living situation is dire. In addition to a thorough energy renovation, these places need new plumbing, new electrical installations, fire safety measures, investment in humidity and mould control, etc.
Every rental property in the Brussels Region must meet a number of minimum standards in terms of safety, health and basic facilities. A property that does not meet these quality requirements may not be rented out. The existing standards will be tightened from 1 January 2026. In the interests of tenants, it is to be hoped that their landlords will actually start renovating. An increase in the number of dwellings declared uninhabitable and vacant would further exacerbate the general shortage of supply in the residential property market. The imbalance between supply and demand for housing, and the role of the government in this regard, will be discussed in a forthcoming blog.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below this blog. I look forward to hearing from you.
Would you like to be kept informed of the publication of new blogs? Register via the website https://www.whatt.eu/en/i-am-registering Please do not forget to mention whether you wish to communicate in Dutch, French or English.
Sources consulted:
https://ibsa.brussels/sites/default/files/publication/documents/Mini-Bru_2025_FR.pdf
https://statbel.fgov.be/fr/nouvelles/census-2021-la-population-belge-cartographiee
https://apache.be/2023/11/02/wie-bezit-brussel?check_logged_in=1