Renting out property in Flanders? We calculate and send the annual indexation letter to your tenant — automatic, objective and compliant with Flemish legislation.
As a landlord in Flanders, you have the legal right to adjust the rent annually based on the health index, an official figure published monthly by Statbel. The indexation may be applied on the anniversary of the lease's entry into force. This applies to both residential and commercial leases in the Flemish Region.
The calculation is laid down by law and leaves no room for interpretation: new rent = base rent x new health index / initial index. The base rent is the amount agreed in the original lease, excluding charges; it never changes, even after several successive indexations. The initial index is that of the month before signing — except for Flemish residential leases that took effect from 1 January 2019, where the month before the lease took effect is the reference. The new index is that of the month before the anniversary date.
Between 1 October 2022 and 30 September 2023 Flanders froze indexation for energy-inefficient homes. That freeze has ended: indexation is allowed again, whatever the label. However, the decree of 4 July 2023 made a correction factor permanent for residential leases that took effect before 1 October 2022 with EPC label D, E or F, or without a valid EPC. The factor is below 1 and prevents the frozen year from being recovered later. Labels A, B and C index in full. Our system calculates the factor automatically from your label and the lease anniversary.
Virtually all of them: houses, apartments, studios, student rooms, shops, offices, warehouses, garages and parking spaces. The decisive distinction is not the type of building but the legal regime of the lease. For a residential lease the Flemish 2019 rule on the initial index applies, as may an EPC correction factor. For all others — retail, office, warehouse, garage — the initial index follows the signing date and no energy correction applies, so indexation there is usually higher.
Renting out property in Flanders? We calculate and send the annual indexation letter to your tenant — automatic, objective and compliant with Flemish legislation.
Only on the anniversary of the date the lease took effect, and only once a year. That date is not necessarily the signing date: if the contract was signed in December but the tenant moved in on 1 January, then 1 January is what counts. Indexation is never automatic: you must request it in writing from your tenant. Without that request the rent stays unchanged, even when every condition is met. Your request has retroactive effect for a maximum of three months.
The most common reason is simply the date: with several leases on different anniversaries, a deadline is easily missed. Next comes uncertainty about the EPC correction factor, which puts some landlords off starting the calculation at all. And there is the human side: after years of a good relationship with a tenant, asking for an increase yourself feels uncomfortable. The cost of forgetting is considerable though — on a rent of 800 euro, a single missed year is roughly 288 euro, and that loss repeats every year thereafter.
Yes. To index the rent lawfully in Flanders, your lease must be registered with the Federal Public Service Finance. Registering a residential lease is free of charge. Without registration you cannot enforce the indexation. We do not handle the registration of your contract, but as soon as it is registered we are happy to take care of the calculation and the dispatch of the indexation.
Our service costs just 30 euro per year per lease, including 21% VAT. A rent increase of only 3% on a rent of 800 euro already brings you 288 euro extra per year — against a cost of 30 euro. An investment that pays for itself straight away.
Enter your base rent, start date and region and see straight away what you may charge this year. Based on the official health index, with the Flemish EPC correction applied automatically.
Go to the free calculator →Submit your contract and never miss an indexation.