Have you forgotten to index your rent? You are not alone — many landlords miss indexations. Find out what your options are, how much you can still recover and how to prevent it happening again.
Many landlords forget to index their rent. Sometimes the date slips by, sometimes the conversation feels awkward. The result is the same: lost rental income you can never fully recover. Fortunately there are ways to recover part of it, provided you act quickly.
In Belgium a forgotten indexation can only be applied retroactively for a limited period. Your written request has retroactive effect for a maximum of three months from the date it is sent, in all three Regions. Anything before that is permanently lost: this is not a deadline you can extend by agreement with your tenant.
On a rent of 800 euro with a 3% indexation you lose 24 euro a month, or 288 euro a year. But the loss is cumulative: the un-indexed rent remains the basis for the following years too. After five years without indexation the shortfall exceeds 2,500 euro; after ten years it passes 8,000 euro.
A common misconception is that your base rent falls if you do not index. That is not correct. The indexation formula always starts from the base rent stated in your contract and its corresponding initial index. If you skip a few years and then resume indexing, the calculation simply starts again from that original amount using the current index. You lose the income from the un-indexed years, but your future indexations are not affected at all.
Have you forgotten to index your rent? You are not alone — many landlords miss indexations.
First calculate the exact amount using Statbel's official index figures. Then send a formal letter to your tenant setting out the full calculation: base rent, initial index, new index and effective date. Verhuurindex.be can help you with a correct calculation and a professional letter.
If you have not indexed for several years, a large catch-up may meet resistance. Explain clearly that indexation is a statutory right provided for in the lease, not a unilateral increase. A professional letter from a neutral third party, backed by official index figures, makes that conversation considerably easier.
Prevention is the best solution. With Verhuurindex.be you no longer have to think about it: you enter your lease once and our system carries out the indexation automatically every year, on the right date and with the correct index figures.
What has passed can only be recovered to a limited extent. But you can prevent missing further indexations in future. Register your lease with Verhuurindex.be today: every year missed is permanently lost.
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.