📈 Can my rent be indexed in Belgium?

With conditions

Quick answer

Yes — once a year, with the legal formula, and only if your energy label allows it. Indexation requires a written (and registered) lease that doesn't exclude it, applies at most once a year from the lease anniversary, and always follows the health-index formula — never a freely chosen percentage. Since the energy crisis the EPC is the referee: in Brussels a home labelled F or G cannot be indexed at all and label E only by half; in Flanders every label may index again since October 2023, but contracts predating 1 October 2022 with label D, E, F or no EPC carry a permanent correction factor capping the increase. Overcharged? The excess is recoverable. Check every indexation letter against Statbel's official rent calculator.

📋 The rules

Max once a year, at the earliest on the lease anniversary
Legal formula using the health index — no free percentage
Brussels: EPB F/G = no indexation, E = half; registered lease required
Flanders: correction factor for pre-1/10/2022 leases labelled D/E/F/none
No retroactivity: arrears claimable max 3 months back

🔓 Exceptions

Lease expressly excludes indexation: then it's never allowed
Verbal or unregistered leases: the indexation right wobbles (region-dependent)
Flemish leases signed from 1 October 2022 index in full regardless of label — the correction factor only bites older contracts labelled D, E, F or with no EPC

⚠️ Penalties & fines

Wrongly or badly indexed? The overpayment is recoverable, up to five years back via the justice of the peace. A landlord who indexes without a valid EPC where one is required loses the indexation right for that period — and a landlord who indexes a Brussels home labelled F or G anyway is asking for money he may not ask for. Indexation is also not retroactive: a landlord who forgot to index for years can claim at most three months of arrears. The letter proves nothing: what counts is the legal health-index formula, not the figure printed on it.

📎 Official sources

Last verified: 2026-07-12

❓ Frequently asked

My landlord indexes 2 years at once. Allowed?

He may apply the indexation from the lease anniversary, but claim arrears only three months back. 'Forgotten' years therefore do not fully stack up: whatever falls outside that three-month window is simply lost to him.

How do I verify the amount?

With Statbel's rent calculator: enter the base rent, the starting index and the new health index. If your landlord's letter differs, the legal formula prevails and the excess is recoverable.

My Brussels flat is EPB label F. Indexation?

No. With label F or G, indexation is blocked in Brussels until the label improves, and with label E only half of it may be charged. That is a Brussels rule: in Flanders every label may index again since October 2023.

Does the Flemish correction factor hit my 2023 lease?

No. Leases signed from 1 October 2022 index in full, whatever the label. The factor only touches older Flemish contracts labelled D, E or F, or without an EPC, and permanently caps the increase there.

Can he index if my lease isn't registered?

Then the indexation right wobbles, and that varies by region: in Brussels a registered lease is required. And a written lease that expressly excludes indexation excludes it for good — no formula can revive that right.

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