How can you convince a landlord to make major energy-efficiency investments?
If your rental home meets the statutory minimum energy-efficiency standards, you can ask the landlord to take additional, drastic energy-efficiency measures. Although your landlord is not required to meet your request, there are several ways to convince them.
The following arguments might help your landlord see the benefits of the investments.
The investments can have the following positive effects:
- Lower energy bills
- Increase in the home’s value
- The home becomes easier to sell or let
- Charging a higher rent is justified in certain cases
As the tenant, you should consider whether the energy saving you will achieve cancels out the rent increase. - At this moment, the landlord is allowed to permanently index the rent if a minimum EPC label is obtained.
This offers even more advantages:
- It’s a great opportunity to carry out deferred maintenance
- Subsidies, contributions, tax reductions and free assistance can be applied for
- As the work can be carried out during the rental period, the landlord doesn’t lose any rental income
If multiple tenants live under the same roof, you could encourage your housemates to submit a similar request to the landlord to increase your chances of success.
This article was published on 07-10-2023. Unless expressly provided otherwise, all information you consult or obtain here is entirely without obligation and for information purposes only. The information applies exclusively to the Brussels Capital-Region.