Make a house a home

Congratulations, you’re now the owner of a new home. It’s the biggest single investment most of us will make in a lifetime, so it pays to be careful about what you spend. Unfortunately, as any home-owner will tell you, signing off on the purchase price is only the beginning.

All those little jobs you imagined would turn a fixer-upper into your dream house are about to turn into a full-time works schedule, and you need never wonder again what to do with your spare cash. But don’t be too downcast: help is available. For home-owners in the Brussels region, there’s a variety of subsidies available to help take the sting out of the ongoing project.

Types of subsidy

Subsidies can be granted for construction or for renovation, with special subsidies for insulation. Low-income families can receive an interest-free ‘social green loan’ to help them pay for insulation. Subsidies are also available for more specialised work such as soil surveys, energy-saving renovation, conservation work on listed buildings and renovating the facade of a building. There are a couple of general conditions: renovation subsidies are paid for properties intended as a residence for the owner, who has to make the property his domicile at the end of the works and live there for at least five years. And the property must be a minimum of 30 years old at the time the application for subsidy is made. The work must be supervised by an accredited contractor, and must not begin before approval is given or the subsidy may be forfeited.

How much money is available?

Depending on where the property is and how much your income is, subsidies range from 30 percent of the cost to 70 percent if it’s in a special development area or a local neighbourhood contract area. Outside those areas, households earning more than €60,000 are not eligible for any subsidy. There are also lump-sum supplements available for couples under 35 and for those with children and other dependants, such as elderly parents. Applications where the total cost of the works covered is less than €1,250 are not considered. The maximum cost of works taken into consideration for subsidy is €35,000 for properties with one or two bedrooms, and an additional €5,000 for each additional bedroom. It’s possible to apply for an advance on a subsidy of up to 90 percent on presentation of the contractor’s invoice for works ordered.

Living conditions

Renovation subsidies are not intended to help you get that dream kitchen or install a sauna. The work has to be intended to achieve a minimum of quality of life and safety. Any work required on roof, doors and windows to make the property wind- and water-tight would be covered, as would structural work to ensure stability, treatments for damp or infestations, noise and heat insulation, ventilation, hot water installations and renovations required to allow access for the disabled.

Saving face

The facade of your house is the part everyone else looks at, so to that extent it’s common property, and the region offers subsidies for its upkeep and renovation. These are available for owner-occupiers, landlords (including companies) and, in special cases, tenants. They cover buildings of at least 25 years of age in one of the 19 communes where at least two-thirds of the space is made up of living quarters (excluding cellars and attics unless furnished). The facade must adjoin the public thoroughfare or stand no further than 8m back. Detached houses are not covered. Subsidies range from 30 to 85 percent depending on whether the applicant is an owner, tenant or non-profit organisation. The subsidies cover cleaning, sandblasting, scaffolding, repair and painting, including the application of anti-graffiti coverings. The maximum value of work covered is €25,000.

www.brussels.irisnet.be

Listed buildings

If your property is a listed building, any transformation work is already ruled out, but subsidies are available for restoration and maintenance work, as well as works to improve living conditions as a result of the obligation to respect the original character of the building. Subsidies range from 40 percent to 80 percent in the case of repairs to severe damage. The monuments authority also provides subsidies for the upkeep of decorative elements of the facades of buildings that are not listed, such as ceramic mosaics, woodwork or decorative windows.

www.monument.irisnet.be

Conserving energy

Making your house more energy-efficient cuts your own bills, but also contributes to efforts to combat climate change, so subsidies are also available for implementing energy-saving measures, from having an expert audit carried out (50 percent of the cost) to ground, wall and roof insulation and turning your house into a low-energy or even passive dwelling (low energy houses have a maximum consumption of 60 kilowatt-hours a year per square metre, while passive houses use only 15 kWh a year). Subsidies also cover glazing, ventilation, heating and renewable energy works, and even the cost of a green fridge-freezer or dryer.

www.bruxellesenvironnement.be

www.leefmilieubrussel.be

Interest-free green loan

The Brussels environment agency Leefmilieu Brussel/Bruxelles Environnement has teamed up with cooperative credit institution Credal to offer the interest-free Social Green Loan, which provides low-income families with the means to carry out energy-saving work such as double glazing, roof insulation or the installation of thermostatic taps. The system, financed by the Region, also covers the cost of personal advice for applicants. The sums available range from €500 to €20,000, with repayments over 18 to 48 months. Low-income in this case means gross annual income of €30,000 for a single person or €60,000 for a couple, increased by €5,000 for each dependant and €5,000 if one of the applicants is under 35.

www.credal.be

Tax benefits

Until this year, it was possible to write off a portion of the cost of energy-saving renovation measures against tax, for those who did not receive a subsidy for that purpose. From tax year 2013, in other words, for costs incurred this year, only roof work is still covered, to the tune of 30 percent of the cost with a maximum of around €2,900. Interest on green loans can still be deducted to a maximum of 30 percent, down from 40 percent last year, providing the loan was arranged before January this year. There is no tax relief on new loans.

Regional aid

The above information refers to subsidies granted by the Brussels-Capital Region. For Wallonia and Flanders, including the municipalities of the Brussels periphery, consult those regions’ own sites.

www.wallonie.be

www.vlaanderen.be