STR-Belgium wishes to respond to the statements made by the Brussels Hotels Association (BHA) in the press last week.
As a reminder, the Brussels-Capital Region has for many years held the unenviable record of the highest level of informality in non-hotel tourist accommodation (tourist residences) in the European Union (>95%), to the detriment of service recipients and all tourism accommodation stakeholders (hotel and non-hotel) who operate — or attempt to operate — legally. Could it be that the regulatory framework governing the activity is itself unlawful?
The BHA states that it is “totally opposed to the introduction of quotas proposed by ‘some’,” which would allegedly amount to “forced regularisation of illegal accommodation.” In fact, by calling for “the implementation of the ordinance of 1 February 2024 with the necessary resources,” the BHA contradicts itself, since it is effectively in favour of quotas — or rather the quota of ‘zero’ for tourist residences rented year-round. In other words, this would amount to prohibiting a competing economic activity from operating legally, to the detriment of the service recipient — the tourist (leisure or business). Is it really for the BHA to define the regulatory mechanisms of a competing segment?
The short-term rental sector is strongly supported by citizens worldwide travelling in Europe for leisure or business, and it is true that approximately one out of four customers chooses short-term rental accommodation instead of traditional hotels, as confirmed by Eurostat figures for 2023: 719 million overnight stays in short-term rentals out of 3 billion across all tourist accommodation categories. The trend continues across European countries (+18% in Belgium between August 2023 and August 2024). However, the very restrictive regulation applied in Brussels, combined with the recent addition of new hotel rooms, results in a ratio closer to ~10% short-term rentals within the overall tourist accommodation supply. This does not diminish the growing attractiveness of tourist residences, in Brussels as elsewhere.
A tourist residence (a villa or apartment made available in its entirety within the meaning of the ordinance of 8 May 2014) is not a hotel room and offers facilities (space, kitchen, etc.) valued by certain categories of tourists. This offer is therefore complementary to traditional hotels and was recognised as such very recently by the Paris Commercial Court in a judgment delivered on October 21, 2024.
On this basis, STR-Belgium advocates for the registration of actors who seek to comply with all rules, in the interest of service recipient safety and the attractiveness of the Capital of Europe, while managing the impact — where demonstrated — in certain neighbourhoods on the supply of affordable housing. Neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood quotas, where necessary, are a powerful regulatory tool widely used across Europe. It is also important to bear in mind the spectrum of illegality within the sector, ranging from actors operating completely underground with impunity to those fulfilling all obligations (income declaration, city tax, safety and insurance certificates, etc.) but lacking, admittedly, urban planning compliance certification due to an outdated Regional Land Use Plan (PRAS). Let us hope that the future Brussels Government will undertake a substantive revision of this important tool through the Share the City project.
The argument often raised by some that the sector has moved away from the original “Airbnb philosophy,” even though short-term rental activity existed for decades before the emergence of that platform, does not withstand the demand trends described above.
No study identifies the elimination of short-term rentals as a structural solution to the acute housing crisis, neither in Brussels (see, for example, the OECD study) nor elsewhere in Europe. A simple reductio ad absurdum based on the housing stock in the Brussels-Capital Region compared with the number of tourist residences easily supports this conclusion. Rather than reasoning based on a single parameter depending on the thesis one wishes to defend, the recent study carried out in Edinburgh by Biggar Economics provides inspiration, with an essential systemic approach that also evaluates the positive economic impacts of short-term rentals within a city’s ecosystem. Restricting short-term rentals in a city is effectively telling a portion of global travellers to go elsewhere — which they will do, with one click. In its current situation, can Brussels really afford that?
The example of New York, which attempted to implement a “Brussels-style” regime, is striking: rents continued to rise, as did the price of hotel rooms.
The neighbourhood quota system was proposed by the short-term rental sector itself and is supported by political actors who were previously in opposition in the Brussels-Capital Region and are now part of the new municipal and forthcoming regional majorities. We recall in this regard the parliamentary debates (Territorial Development Committee and plenary session) in January 2024, where the positions of parties such as MR and Les Engagés were very clear on this issue.
It is becoming increasingly evident to policymakers that the socio-economic representativeness of the short-term rental sector is growing in light of the attention it receives from citizens worldwide. The sector — whose fragmentation should not lead its critics to believe it is weak — consists of citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises forming a genuine ecosystem with direct and indirect economic benefits for cities. In this regard, STR-Belgium welcomes the 2024–2030 majority agreement of the City of Brussels, which states that “the City will continue to regulate the tourist accommodation market, notably through the development of a partnership with the short-term rental sector and the implementation of pilot projects aimed at integrating the activity harmoniously into urban spaces.” STR-Belgium is fully willing to continue in this constructive dynamic at the regional level as soon as the government is formed.
Finally, we would like to recall several fundamental legal elements:
- At present, the implementation of the new ordinance of 1 February 2024, as requested by the BHA, is not possible because, on the one hand, the implementing decrees have not yet been adopted by the (future) Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, and because the ordinance is also subject to an action for annulment before the Constitutional Court filed on August 5, 2024;
- In addition to the infringement procedure initiated by the European Commission to which the Brussels-Capital Region is subject through the Member State Belgium — still ongoing at this stage — the legality of the ordinance of 8 May 2014 is also the subject of preliminary questions referred by the Brussels Court of Appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union in a judgment delivered on November 14, 2024.
On the eve of the implementation of the European Union’s regulatory framework for the short-term rental sector scheduled for May 20, 2026, STR-Belgium has full confidence in national and European judicial institutions to restore a proportionate and impartial framework in Brussels — a true point of balance that will allow an economic sector to exist while respecting the general interest (consumer protection, citizens worldwide, and economic actors), and will guarantee Brussels’ attractiveness through a competitive, innovative, and sustainable tourism accommodation market.
STR-Belgium remains open to discussions with all stakeholders to co-construct, together with political authorities at the different levels of governance, the proportionate regulation of tomorrow referred to above. STR-Belgium respects the Brussels hotel industry and recognises its undeniable added value in the
