Jungle in Belgium: Unrealistic deadlines and impossible obligations for owners

Real estate in Flanders, Brussels or Wallonia, although identical, will not receive the same PEB certification. "This is one of the big problems of the system in Belgium," says Olivier Amal, president of the National Union of Owners and Co-Owners. "We see that the way PEB is calculated differs from region to region. What's worse, it can also vary according to the certifiers' recommendations. We may even have different PEBs for the same street, depending on whether the building is in one region or another. This, of course, is illogical.".

There are nevertheless serious implications for owners and potential buyers. "A calendar has been approved (even though it has not yet been adopted in Wallonia and Brussels) which provides for reaching a certain PEB level at different times depending on the regions for buyers and owners who want to rent out properties. These calendars are based on European guidelines, so it's hard for us to say whether this is a good thing or not. But the biggest problem is that they were developed by theorists who are focused on the rental market. However, if we consider the case of Wallonia, out of 1,678,583 dwellings, 1,124,650 are owned. And until 2028 in Wallonia and 2031 in Brussels, all premises must be equipped with a PEB certificate, which the owners are still unaware of. In the absence of a PEB certificate, the owner will be subject to a fine of €1,000. Moreover, if owners do not follow the requirements for energy retrofits, it will be difficult to achieve the planned targets by 2050. "

The level of PEB that needs to be achieved and the timeframe by which it must be done varies from region to region.

In Olivier Amal's opinion, the criteria on which PEBs are set should be reviewed and harmonized between regions. "For example, it is incorrect that a dwelling with electric heat is permanently classified as PEB G. What message do the authorities want to send when they advocate a complete switch to electric for cars? It's an incoherence we don't understand. France is already ahead of Belgium on this issue and has rejected such measures. The same is true for properties with a "bad" PEB that cannot be rented out. This will result in the absence of hundreds of thousands of residential units from the rental market." Such a measure is far from solving the housing problem...

To access this article, please connect to the Internet.