2024-01-04 14:23:00
In the Walloon majority, the two left-wing parties are in favor of a more interventionist approach to housing rental. Ecolo and PS consider that legislative safeguards must be put in place to protect tenants. The Socialist Minister of Housing, Christophe Collignon, does not hide his desire to move towards better supervision of the sector. For him, “the role of the State is to introduce regulation into the market”.
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On the right, conversely, we refuse to further constrain private owners. The MR refuses that we are moving towards a stricter management system for the rental market. “This would put a terrible brake on private investment. However, the public authorities are not able to compensate for this reduction in the supply of goods,” tells us Willy Borsus, vice-president of Wallonia.
At the PS and at Ecolo, we would like Wallonia to be able to adopt a restrictive rent scale. The rental price of a property would be conditional on a series of criteria. Tenants would be better protected against discrimination or abusive indexation, believe left-wing ministers. At the MR, it is predicted that this measure would lead to “a serious housing crisis while the current situation is already tense”. Minister Borsus recalls that “a lot of work has already been done by the government on the energy performance of buildings”.
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On this last point, its government partners are of the same opinion. Although it has not produced a binding rent scale, the Walloon government has in fact released a series of mechanisms which penalize owners who rent accommodation in poor condition at excessively high prices. The PEB is one of them.
“With the rise of PEB, energy strainers are no longer sold on real estate sites,” illustrates Christophe Collignon.
From January 1, 2025, landlord owners who rent out their property for the first time will no longer be able to rent energy strainers (PEB G). And from July 1, 2026, new owners of a building with the PEB G, F or E label will have to achieve the PEB D label within five years of the change of ownership.
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“The PEB certificate already has a binding nature,” recognizes Philippe Henry, Minister of Climate. In 2023, owners of buildings with a PEB D and E certificate had to limit their indexation to 75% and 50% respectively. The ecologist nevertheless admits that this “simplified evaluation method” still has some difficulties. There are notably “differences of assessment” depending on the regions and the certifiers. The same property will not have the same result depending on the company that evaluates it. The Ecolo elected official affirms that a study was commissioned “so that we can refine the system”.
“From the moment we link a whole series of legislation to the PEB, the government will have to ensure uniformity in the application of the PEB certification legislation,” adds Christophe Collignon.
In 2019, the PS program called for “establishing a mandatory rent control mechanism” while that of Ecolo called for “organizing rent regulation tools”. Their ideas of imposing a ceiling per category of property were part of a desire to fight against precariousness. As the formula did not achieve consensus in the Walloon executive, the latter opted for an indicative grid. This makes it possible to obtain “an objective and official estimate of the rent for accommodation located in Wallonia” so that the tenant can know whether he is facing a correct or abusive offer.
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“At some point, we will have to move towards restrictive rent scales. But for that, you need a majority”
For Christophe Collignon, however, this first step is not enough. “At some point, we will have to move towards restrictive rent scales. But for that, you need a majority,” sighs the socialist.
In Wallonia, owners must already obtain a permit if they wish to rent certain properties, namely collective housing or small individual housing with a living area of 28 m² or less. This permit essentially aims to protect students by allowing them to access accommodations that meet acceptable health conditions.
Here too, Minister Collignon judges that the situation is still problematic. In the Walloon recovery plan, an envelope of 600,000 euros was released for project 245, which aims in particular “to make the rental permit more effective”. The socialist judges that it is necessary to control these accommodations more and verify that all the health requirements are respected.
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