The Flemish government has announced the freezing of rent indexation this weekend, starting from October 1, as one of the energy measures. The rents of houses and apartments that are not energy-efficient enough will be temporarily fully or partially frozen.
As a landlord of a property, you are generally allowed to index the rent annually. However, in the September Declaration, it was decided that this rent indexation will be limited or completely excluded for less energy-efficient rental properties to protect the tenants - who are currently receiving high energy bills.
Specifically, this means:
- Rental properties with an EPC label of E and F may not be indexed for 1 year
- Rental properties with an EPC label D may be charged for 50% of the health index
- There are no restrictions for rental properties with an EPC label A, B, and C
No EPC = no indexation
If there is no EPC, no indexation is allowed. However, since 2009, it has been mandatory to have an EPC certificate when renting out a property.
For those who have an EPC certificate dated before 01-01-2019, the EPC label can be determined based on the EPC indicator (kWh/m²/year) using the conversion table below:
Temporary measure
This freezing rule only applies to the private rental market and not to commercial properties or student rooms. The measure is valid from October 1, 2022, until September 30, 2023. Indexations made before October 1, 2022, will continue as usual.