Constitutional Court extends indexation restriction to student housing contracts in Flanders

This "emergency decree" introduced a limitation on the possibility to index rent depending on the EPC/PEB of the property. However, this restriction only applied to leases for principal residence, and not to leases for student accommodation.

According to the Constitutional Court, there is no reason to treat a student housing contract differently from a main residence contract. At the time, the Flemish Government had justified this difference in approach by the fact that student housing contracts are often concluded for a maximum of one year. However, the rules on indexation also apply if a new contract is concluded with the same student for the same room or if the contract would exceed one year.

As a result, the indexation restrictions based on the EPC/PEB also apply to student housing contracts.

If you are a landlord of student housing in Flanders, you must take into consideration the indexation restrictions, both within the context of the classic indexation of your ongoing contracts, as well as when calculating the rent for a new contract with the same tenant and for the same room. We refer to our earlier article on this subject.

The other provisions of the decree were upheld by the Constitutional Court and therefore remain applicable.

For more info, please contact our specialists at Seeds of Law on +32 (0)2 747 40 07 or via info@seeds.law.