Airbnb rules in Brussels 2026 and 2027: registration, the urban-planning certificate and the new ordinance

Airbnb rules in Brussels come from the region, not the city: you register every unit let for 1 night to 90 consecutive days with Brussels Economy and Employment before the first guest, with a fire safety certificate and an urban-planning certificate from the municipality, even for your own home.¹⁴ On 1 January 2027 a new ordinance and its implementing decree replace the 2014 rules. Hosts who let their own main residence no longer need the urban-planning certificate, and new fines and categories apply.⁵⁶

In this guide

1. Airbnb rules in Brussels until 31 December 2026
2. What changes on 1 January 2027
3. Brussels city tax in short
4. Enforcement
5. Worked example
6. Co-host checklist before you sign
7. Questions people ask
8. Sources

This page goes deeper than the Brussels section of the rules guide. For longer stays, see mid-term rentals in Brussels.

Airbnb rules in Brussels until 31 December 2026

Brussels Economy and Employment (BEE) says the obligation applies to anyone who lets a room, flat or house in the 19 municipalities to tourists, students, trainees or business travellers. It applies to individuals and companies, occasional or frequent, for any stay of 1 night to 90 consecutive days.¹

• Before you register, you get a fire safety certificate and an urban-planning certificate from your municipality.⁴
• One registration number per unit. It is tied to one operator and one address and cannot be transferred, so a buyer of a registered flat applies again.¹
• After registration, you show the number in every advertisement, keep civil liability insurance, and renew the fire safety certificate, valid for five years, six months before it expires.³

The principal-residence rule

Your own home is not exempt. BEE says the obligations apply even if the property is your principal residence, and even if you let it for less than four months a year.¹ BEE’s page on tourist residences adds that if the accommodation is the operator’s main residence, it may be open to guests for at most four months a year.² A homestay, where you let part of the home you live in, must instead be available to guests for at least four months a year.¹

The urban-planning certificate

The certificate confirms that tourist accommodation fits the planning use of the building.⁴ BEE’s FAQ is plain that it is required for every category, a principal residence included, without exception.¹ In practice, a flat with a residential permit may not get one; the municipality decides.

What changes on 1 January 2027

The ordinance on tourist accommodation of 1 February 2024, adopted by the Brussels Parliament on 26 January 2024, left its date of entry into force to the government.⁵ The decree of 9 July 2026, published in the Belgian Official Journal on 27 October 2026, does that: article 104 says the ordinance and the decree enter into force on 1 January 2027, and the decree repeals the 2016 implementing decree of the old rules.⁶ We read both texts on the official journal’s site; the decree runs to 105 articles plus annexes, so the points below are the ones that matter most for a host or co-host.

• Same scope. Tourist accommodation is still a paid stay of at most 90 consecutive days.⁵
• Seven categories. Among them are self-catering accommodation, self-catering accommodation in a main residence, and accommodation with a private individual (a homestay). For the last two, a natural person must live in the home, be domiciled there and run no more than one such establishment.⁶ Existing registrations move across automatically: a tourist residence becomes self-catering accommodation, and a homestay stays a homestay.⁶
• Urban-planning exemption. The two main-residence categories are exempt from the urban-planning certificate. For everyone else the municipality has 30 days to acknowledge a complete application and 30 days to decide, a silence counts as a refusal, and the fee is at most €350.⁶
• Fire safety. Homes for 10 people or more need a certificate based on the fire service’s opinion. Homes for fewer than 10 need a certificate from the mayor after an opinion from an accredited organisation, at up to €350 each. A main-residence home or homestay for fewer than 10 can use a simplified inspection certificate, at most €150. A full or simplified certificate is valid for eight years.⁶
• More paperwork. The registration form asks for the operator and the day-to-day manager, a criminal record extract for both, the owner’s written consent if the operator is not the owner, and the co-ownership rules or proof that the building’s managing agent was notified.⁶
• Information for guests. Before booking, guests must see the registration number, the operator’s and manager’s contact details, and BEE’s contact details.⁶

What remains unconfirmed

• The four-month rule. We found no annual limit in the decree’s text, but we could not confirm with BEE that the limit disappears.
• Accredited organisations. If none is accredited, the decree falls back on the fire service or the mayor.⁶ We found no list of accredited organisations on 2 November 2026.
• Old certificates. Fire safety certificates issued under the old rules stay valid for at most three years after 1 January 2027, and BEE will ask existing operators for any missing documents within a year.⁶ BEE’s own pages still described the 2014 rules on 2 November 2026.¹³

Brussels city tax in short

The tourist tax in Brussels is regional and charged per accommodation unit per night: €5 since the 2026 tax year, municipal surcharges included, or €4 for a homestay. Stays over 90 days are not taxed. You register on MyTax within 31 days of opening or risk €1,000 per unit, and declare each month’s nights within 31 days.⁷ For the full comparison with other cities, see tourist tax on Airbnb.

Enforcement

Enforcement runs on two tracks. On the tax side, Brussels Fiscality wrote in February 2026 that it is sending letters to operators who did not meet their obligations in 2023, 2024 and 2025: unregistered operators are registered automatically and fined €1,000 per room, and those who did not declare are taxed as if fully occupied.⁸

On the registration side, the new ordinance gives BEE inspectors these powers from 1 January 2027:⁵

• Warnings and reports. Inspectors can set a deadline to stop an offence and draw up official reports.
• Stop orders. After a formal notice, they can order the activity to stop at once, post the order and seal the premises.
• Platform data. Platforms and other intermediaries must hand over the operator’s details within a month of a written request.
• Fines. €50 to €500 for a registered operator who breaks the rules, €200 to €5,000 for letting or advertising without a valid number or for giving false information, and €500 to €10,000 for obstructing inspectors, ignoring a stop order or a platform that does not answer.
• Homes. Inspectors may enter an inhabited home only between 5:00 and 21:00, with written consent or a police court judge’s authorisation.

The EU short-term rental regulation adds platform data sharing on top; see the EU regulation guide.

Worked example

If the same owner lived in the flat and let it while away, they would skip step 1 and could use the simplified fire certificate at €150 or less.⁶

Co-host checklist before you sign

1. Category. Does the owner live in the home and have their domicile there? That decides the category and whether the urban-planning certificate applies from 2027.⁶
2. Number. Is the unit registered, in whose name, and is the number in every listing?¹
3. Certificates. Is there an urban-planning certificate, and when does the fire safety certificate expire?³⁶
4. Manager. Will you be named as manager? Then you need a recent criminal record extract and must be reachable by guests.⁶
5. Owner and building. Is there written owner consent if you or a company operate, and do the co-ownership rules allow it? See VME rules.⁶
6. Tax. Is the unit on MyTax, and who files the monthly return?⁷
7. In writing. Put who does each step, and who pays a fine, in the management agreement.

Questions people ask

Sources

All sources checked 2 November 2026.

1. Brussels Economy and Employment, “Have your tourist accommodation registered”, Checklist and FAQ, 11 August 2025
2. Brussels Economy and Employment, “Conditions and obligations for tourist residences”
3. Brussels Economy and Employment, “Obligations to be met after the registration”
4. be.brussels (Brussels-Capital Region), “Enregistrer un hébergement touristique”, In French
5. Belgian Official Journal (Justel), “Ordonnance du 1er février 2024 relative à l'hébergement touristique”, Published 7 February 2024, numac 2024001041, articles 3, 7, 8, 12, 17 and 28 to 30, in French
6. Belgian Official Journal, “Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 9 juillet 2026 portant exécution de l'ordonnance du 1er février 2024 relative à l'hébergement touristique”, Published 27 October 2026, numac 2026005619, articles 6, 12, 17, 27, 37, 50, 82 and 99 to 104, in French
7. be.brussels (Brussels-Capital Region), “Regional tax on tourist accommodation establishments”
8. be.brussels (Brussels-Capital Region), “Taxe régionale sur les établissements d'hébergement touristique: campagne de régularisations en cours”, 9 February 2026, in French

We check every figure against the sources above. Spotted something out of date? Email systemen@hostproacademy.com with the guide title.