Vacant property in Belgium: taxes and fines

When is a home considered vacant?

In Wallonia

The Walloon Sustainable Housing Code (Code wallon de l’habitation durable, article 80) presumes a home to be unoccupied if it matches one of the following cases:

• it has been declared unfit for habitation for at least 12 months;
• it has not been furnished with the essential furniture for at least 12 consecutive months;
• its water or electricity consumption, over at least 12 consecutive months, is below a minimum set by the Government;
• nobody has been entered in the population register at that address for at least 12 consecutive months, unless the holder of real rights shows that the home has been used, or that the situation is beyond their control.

The 2026 circular to communes recalls the thresholds set by decree: 15 cubic metres of water and 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity over at least 12 consecutive months. Below these, the home is presumed unoccupied.

In Brussels

Bruxelles Logement (the Brussels housing administration) states that keeping a home unoccupied, or using it for purposes other than housing, for more than 12 consecutive months is an offence under the Brussels Housing Code. The case starts after an investigation by Bruxelles Logement or a complaint. Only the 19 communes and associations approved by the Government can file a complaint.

Wallonia: the municipal tax

Many Walloon communes levy a tax on unoccupied and/or dilapidated buildings. The 2026 budget circular recommends:

The recommended maximum is €270, i.e. €333.26 indexed, per linear metre of façade. The circular also proposes a calculation per m² (€5, €10 then €40 minimum; maximum €54, i.e. €66.65 indexed). These are only recommendations: the exact amount is in your commune’s tax regulation.

The taxable base is the length of the façade (in linear metres) multiplied by the number of unoccupied levels, not counting cellars, basements and unconverted attics.

The findings

The tax can only be levied the first time after two findings at least 6 months apart. If the two findings fall in two different tax years, the tax is due for the year of the second finding. The person liable is the holder of a real right (owner, usufructuary…) at the date of the finding and on 1 January of the tax year.

The circular also asks communes to exclude from the tax a building whose vacancy results from circumstances beyond the owner’s control, a notion to be interpreted broadly.

Wallonia: the administrative fine

Article 85ter of the Code states that, where the commune does not have a tax regulation on unoccupied homes, keeping a home unoccupied is an administrative offence for the holder of a principal real right. The procedure is as follows:

1. The commune informs the owner by registered letter of the presumption of vacancy. The owner has 60 days to request a hearing or reply in writing. The municipal executive decides within the following month.
2. If the offence is established, the commune sends a warning giving 6 months to end it or to prove that the home is not unoccupied.
3. After that deadline, the municipal executive imposes the fine: between €500 and €12,500 per home and per 12-month period of vacancy not interrupted for at least 3 months. It is multiplied by the number of years since the first finding.
4. The offender has a suspensive appeal to the Government within one month of notification.

The Code provides that payment of the fine is secured by a statutory mortgage on the home and that, if the offender does not pay, a public sale of the home can be organised. The president of the court can also order measures to ensure the home is occupied.

Brussels: the regional fine

In Brussels, the procedure described by Bruxelles Logement is as follows:

1. Bruxelles Logement identifies the home, establishes the offence and notifies the owner.
2. The owner receives a warning and has 3 months to prove that the property is occupied or to justify the vacancy (works planned or in progress, legitimate reason, force majeure).
3. Without a valid answer, an administrative fine is imposed: €500 per linear metre of façade, multiplied by the number of unoccupied floors and by the number of years since the first finding. Unconverted cellars and attics do not count.
4. The Government can index the amounts every year, and the fine increases every year as long as the property stays empty.
5. A suspensive appeal is made by registered letter within 30 days of notification.

Examples given by Bruxelles Logement: a 5 m façade with 2 empty floors gives €5,000, and an empty single-family house with a 4 m façade on 3 levels gives €6,000.

The right of public management

If the property remains unoccupied, a public operator can take over its management. It renovates the property, then lets it for at least 9 years, a period that can be extended to cover the renovation costs. An ordinance of 23 March 2022 clarified the procedure: the owner can take back control earlier only after repaying all the operator’s costs and after the signing of a first lease at the AIS rent (agence immobilière sociale, social rental agency). A regional inventory of unoccupied homes has also been created.

Avoiding the fine

Bruxelles Logement mentions forms of help to put a property back in good condition or back on the rental market: social rental agencies (AIS), the RENOLUTION grant (the Brussels renovation grant) and free advice from Homegrade (the Brussels housing advice centre). In Wallonia, see also renovation grants. If your property is empty during a sale or an estate settlement, document the reason and contact the commune or Bruxelles Logement. See also selling your home and selling a jointly owned property.

Which professional to consult

Your commune’s housing or finance department, or Bruxelles Logement, can tell you whether a procedure has been opened. A lawyer can help you prepare your justifications or an appeal. An architect or a contractor can cost the works that justify the vacancy.