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Factsheet for measure BE-2020-17/1214 – Updated – measures in Belgium

Company loans given for rent support

Vlaanderen: Kwijtschelding van huurgelden

Country Belgium , applies regionally

    • – BE1 RÉGION DE BRUXELLES-CAPITALE/BRUSSELS HOOFDSTEDELIJK GEWEST
      – BE2 VLAAMS GEWEST
Time period Temporary, 24 April 2020 – 01 March 2021
Context COVID-19
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Access to finance
Author Dries Van Herreweghe (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and Eurofound
Measure added 02 October 2020 (updated 30 April 2021)

Background information

Tenants who have difficulty paying the commercial lease due to liquidity problems can apply for a commercial lease loan with the Flemish government, whereby the regional governments (Flanders and Brussels) advances a maximum of two months rent, on condition that the landlord waives one or two months rent. The measure has reduced financial pressure on businesses that are faced with reduced income because of the COVID-19 crisis but are still faced with significant fixed costs.

Content of measure

The Flemish government will advance a maximum of two rental periods, provided that the landlord waives one or two months' rent. This voluntary agreement with the landlord is an interesting option: if the landlord waives two months' rent, the landlord is guaranteed payment of the rent for the next two months.

Payment is made directly to the landlord, while the tenant takes out the loan. The maximum amount for the loan has been increased to €35,000. The repayment of capital and interest only starts after six months and must be repaid 24 months after the loan has been granted. There is an interest rate of 2%.

The Brussels regional government has implemented a quasi identical measure as well. The tenant may request an advance finance payment from Brussels for the payment of a maximum of two months rent. Upon approval the Brussels regional government will pay the amount to the owner of the property. This advance is repayable (up to a maximum of €25,000) with an exemption from repayment during the first six months.

The measure has been extended to the events and entertainment sectors as well, as they are both sectors that have been struck very hard.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

04 January 2021

The measure was extended on 4 January 2021 and can be requested until the 1 March 2021.

  1. The commercial lease loan is now a maximum of four months rent instead of the 2 months as was the case before. The maximum amount is limited to €60.000 per property. The compulsory waiver by the landlord is not increased and therefore remains at least 1 month.
  2. Companies with multiple properties can obtain multiple commercial lease loans. The total amount that a single company can borrow is increased to a maximum of €150,000 for all properties together.
  3. Tenants who have already obtained a commercial lease loan under the previous scheme for 1 or 2 months will have the possibility to apply for an additional loan (up to a maximum of 4 months rent total). An additional waiver by the landlord is not required.
  4. Enterprises that started after 12 March 2020 are also eligible.

Use of measure

There is no data available yet on the uptake of the measure with business owners.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Applies to all businesses Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
Local / regional government
Regional funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role Unknown Unknown
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • Unknown
  • Main level of involvement: Regional or local level

Involvement

UNIZO (one of the main representative employers' associations) informs their members on their website and helps them with the application. In addition they defend the interests of their members with the competent ministers and have actively defended the measure.

Views and reactions

Employers associations and in particular those that are mainly involved with SME's like UNIZO and UCM are strong proponents of the measure and have demanded them.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Company loans given for rent support, measure BE-2020-17/1214 (measures in Belgium), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/BE-2020-17_1214.html

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Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.