The Brussels government has released EUR 56 million to pay the Renolution grants linked to 2024 dossiers that remained outstanding. That decision was essential. But it shines a light on a far more troubling reality: for 2025, no grants will be paid during the transition towards the future zero-rate loan system. Landlords who commissioned works in 2025 are excluded from the system, caught between two regimes. An analysis of a sharp breach of trust.
Context: a release that is insufficient
In early 2026, the government of the Brussels-Capital Region announced the release of an envelope of EUR 56 million intended to honour Renolution grants linked to 2024 dossiers that had remained in suspense. This is good news for the landlords concerned: the commitments made by the Region towards citizens who scrupulously followed the rules in force will be honoured.
But this clarification exposes a major flaw in the management of the transition between two public schemes. For 2025, no grant will be paid. Landlords who commissioned works that year — or who were forced to complete them that year for reasons beyond their control — will receive no support whatsoever.
The message is clear: there will be nothing between the two regimes.
Who are the landlords caught in the trap?
Three categories of landlords find themselves in this situation:
1. Those who commissioned or completed works in 2025 on the basis of 2024 rules
Many landlords planned, budgeted for, and commissioned major works — roof insulation, energy renovation, compliance upgrades — on the basis of an existing regulatory framework and a public support mechanism that was presented as a structural policy incentive.
A concrete example, frequently encountered: a Brussels co-ownership of three apartments carried out a full renovation and roof insulation in early 2025, at a cost of approximately EUR 30,000. These works had been decided in 2024, on the basis of the grant conditions then in force.
Their execution was delayed until 2025 because of unfavourable weather conditions — a factor entirely beyond the owners' control. Today, that co-ownership finds itself without a grant, without any retroactive recourse, and without a workable solution: a zero-rate loan clearly cannot compensate for expenditure already incurred and paid.
2. Those who were unable to submit their dossier
The impossibility of submitting dossiers during the period of political crisis and institutional blockage prevented them from asserting their rights within the usual deadlines. This is not a failing on their part — it is an administrative dysfunction.
3. Those objectively caught between two support regimes
Neither eligible for the 2024 regime (dossier impossible to submit, or works carried out after the scheme closed), nor eligible for the future zero-rate loan system (unknown timetable, no retroactivity announced).
A sharp breach of trust
What property federations and industry bodies are denouncing is less the choice of a new scheme than the manner in which the transition is being managed.
The grants were known. The conditions were known. Landlords followed the rules in force at the time they planned their investments.
Many of them commissioned major works — roof insulation, energy renovation, compliance upgrades — on the basis of:
- An existing and stable regulatory framework
- A public support mechanism presented as a structural policy incentive
Announcing today that 2025 grants will simply not be paid is sending an extremely negative signal to everyone considering works in the coming years.
"Announcing today that 2025 grants will simply not be paid sends an extremely negative signal to everyone considering works in the coming years."
Grants that have stopped acting as incentives
The energy renovation of the Brussels building stock requires stability, predictability, and trust. Yet in recent years, landlords have faced a succession of regime changes, regulatory adjustments, and shifting conditions. This instability is progressively undermining the credibility of the system.
In these circumstances, grants are no longer playing their role as incentives. Landlords' motivation is eroding. It is impossible to call for faster energy renovation while simultaneously undermining the legal and financial security of those who commit to it.
The concrete consequences
For Brussels landlords and co-ownerships, the impact is threefold:
- Immediate financial loss: tens of thousands of euros in expected grants that will never be paid
- Credit and profitability: financing plans built around grants must be revised downward
- Knock-on effect: some renovation projects under consideration are being delayed or abandoned, to the detriment of the Brussels property stock
What can affected landlords do in practice?
If you are in one of the situations described above, here are the steps to consider:
Build an evidence file
Collect and keep carefully:
- All quotes drawn up before the works were carried out
- All itemised invoices from contractors and suppliers
- All proof of payment (bank statements, transfers)
- All exchanges with Homegrade or the regional administration (emails, letters, acknowledgements of receipt)
- The context of the decision: co-ownership general meeting minutes, formalised decisions, dated contracts with contractors
Check your eligibility under the 2024 regime
If your dossier can still be linked to the 2024 regime (decision taken in 2024, quotes dated 2024, dossier submission possible with justification for the delay), make this known to the administration. The release of EUR 56 million may potentially cover certain borderline situations.
Stay informed about the future scheme
The zero-rate loan system announced by the government has no precise timetable yet. Monitor:
- The implementing decrees of the new Regional Policy Declaration (see our article on the new Brussels government policy for landlords)
- The official communications from Homegrade, the regional one-stop shop
- Any announced retroactive eligibility conditions
Join collective efforts
Several landlord associations and groups are mobilising to ask the Brussels government for an equitable transitional mechanism for landlords who:
- Commissioned or completed works in 2025 on the basis of 2024 rules
- Were unable to submit their dossier due to the institutional blockage
- Are objectively caught between two support regimes
A call for a fair solution
The transition to a new system cannot be made at the expense of those who acted in accordance with the rules in force. Abandoning these landlords today means durably weakening trust in public renovation policies.
If you are a property manager, you have a role to play: document the concrete situations of your co-ownership clients and landlord clients, quantify the financial impact, and relay this to professional federations. A collective recourse is only credible when it is built on documented cases.
Further reading
For a broader perspective on renovation policies and the instability that undermines landlord investment, see our full analysis of renovation "stop-and-go" policies, which puts the Brussels situation in context alongside what is happening in France (MaPrimeRenov') and elsewhere in Europe.
If you also manage a Walloon portfolio, our article on the Wallonia EPC energy renovation requirements 2028 gives you the tools to anticipate comparable regional obligations.
Centralise the tracking of your grant dossiers and renovation quotes with Seido — secure storage for all invoices, general meeting minutes, and exchanges with the administration. If recourse becomes necessary, your evidence is ready in one click.