Housing: EUR 400M for the SLRB, 1,000 public housing units

Coalition Agreement: Announced Commitments

The agreement of 12 February 2026 provides for a massive unlocking for housing:

• SLRB: injection of EUR 400 million
• 1,000+ public housing units over the parliamentary term
• Be Home doubled: 160 → EUR 320/month
• Renolution replaced by zero-interest loans (EUR 200 million envelope until 2029)
• Brownfield sites:
  • Wiels, Avijl, Donderberg: preserved
  • 18-month moratorium: Keyenbempt, Calevoet, Josaphat, Meylemeersch
  • Chant des Cailles + Dames Blanches: confirmed
  • Neo (Heysel): relaunched
• Simplification of urban planning procedures

These commitments address the inherited structural crisis (62,234 households waiting, Housing Fund at a standstill, sharply rising rents). Their implementation will need to be monitored, particularly the SLRB's absorption capacity and the effective replacement of Renolution by zero-interest loans.

Clearing the Renolution backlog

In February 2026, EUR 56 million was released to clear the outstanding Renolution applications:

• EUR 50 million via Urban.Brussels + EUR 6 million via Leefmilieu Brussel
• 2,692 applications already validated (~EUR 41 million)
• 600+ applications still to be processed by mid-2026
• All payments to be completed before end of 2026
• The new zero-interest loan system will take over from 2027 (EUR 66 million/year envelope)

Zero-interest loan: accessibility concerns

The replacement of Renolution premiums with a zero-interest loan raises concerns. All Brussels homes must reach EPC label E by 2033, but the details of the new mechanism are not yet defined (clarification expected by January 2027 according to building federation Embuild).

Embuild considers premiums and loans should be complementary and fears a massive postponement of renovations until 2032 if the scheme is not attractive enough. A professor of tax law at VUB warns that the lower middle class risks being excluded: a loan, even at zero interest, requires repayment capacity that modest households lack. The mechanism is described as "budget-neutral" for the Region, but at the cost of shifting the risk to households.

Rents 2025: all communes above EUR 1,000

The full Federia 2025 barometer confirms the generalised rent increase across the Brussels Region: +3.7% year-on-year for all property types. The average house rent now exceeds EUR 2,000/month. Notably, all 19 communes now show an average rent above EUR 1,000, with Jette as the cheapest commune at EUR 1,036/month.

The contraction of the rental supply (−10% leases signed in 2024 despite high demand) amplifies the upward pressure. The 20% threshold above the reference rent, which has constituted a presumption of abuse since 1 May 2025, will be tested in this context of scarcity.

Source: RTBF / Federia (5 March 2026).

Asbestos in the Machtens towers in Molenbeek (March 2026)

The two Machtens towers in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (approximately 200 social housing units in total, ~100 per tower) face a dual problem of asbestos and mould. Residents on the upper floors have been relocated for fire safety reasons, whilst those on the lower floors remain in place with instructions not to drill or sand the walls.

The towers are scheduled for demolition, but no concrete rehousing plan has been communicated to residents. The situation illustrates the challenges facing the Brussels social housing stock, which suffers from both ageing infrastructure and chronic underinvestment.

Source: La Libre (9 March 2026).

Energy performance: 32% of energy-guzzling homes (March 2026)

According to an analysis by Immoweb and Belfius (March 2026), 32% of homes for sale in Brussels carry an EPC label F or G (energy-guzzling) — the worst ratio of the three regions (Flanders: 22%, Wallonia: 26%). Conversely, only 29% of Brussels homes for sale display a favourable label (A, B or C), compared to 66% in Flanders and 38% in Wallonia.

Brussels regulations require that F and G-labelled homes must disappear by 2033. However, the current renovation pace would need to be multiplied by nearly four to meet this deadline. Renovation credits have risen by +51% between 2023 and 2025, but the volume remains insufficient.

The replacement of Renolution premiums with zero-interest loans (decided in February 2026) raises concerns: a loan, even interest-free, requires repayment capacity that modest households lack — risking the exclusion of the lower middle class from the renovation process.

Source: BRUZZ / Immoweb-Belfius (March 2026).

Residential attractiveness: a paradigm to rethink

A study by Brussels Studies (no. 172, Berns, Lenel, Schaut & Van Hamme, 2022), based on Statbel data (residential trajectories 2001-2015) and 99 qualitative interviews, challenges 30 years of Brussels residential attractiveness policy.

Key findings:

• Middle-class families with children represent only ~15% of departures — this is not the dominant profile of the exodus
• 40% of leavers return to the region where their parents came from ("residential socialisation")
• 46% of households leaving Brussels remain tenants at destination — home ownership does not retain them
• The migration balance has been structurally negative for decades
• Paradoxically, a greener environment correlates with higher emigration

The thesis: attractiveness policy targets the wrong public (middle-class families) with the wrong tools (home ownership support). The authors propose redirecting towards populations suited to dense urban environments: single-parent households, elderly persons, intellectual middle classes, populations in life transitions.

Source: Brussels Studies no. 172 (DOI: 10.4000/brussels.6192), October 2022.

PFAS and Residential Areas

PFAS contamination affects residential areas in Brussels. Around the Sicli site in Uccle, a 100-metre safety perimeter prohibits consuming fruit and vegetables from gardens. TFA in drinking water exceeds the EU standard (in force since January 2026) in all 6 reservoirs. Decontamination and water treatment costs could impact residential charges.

Source: Brussels Environment, 2025-2026.