Airbnb rules in Leuven 2026: the permit, registration and the city tax

The Airbnb rules in Leuven come in three layers: Flemish registration with Toerisme Vlaanderen, a city permit for tourist use, and the city’s overnight tax. On the permit, Visit Leuven says you always need an environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning) for tourist accommodation, even if you let for less than 90 days, and the route the city describes is a temporary partial change of function for someone who keeps living at the address.²¹ For a co-host, that makes the question “who lives here?” the first one to ask about any Leuven unit.

In this guide

1. Airbnb rules in Leuven: the three layers
2. The permit for tourist use
3. Fire safety
4. The Leuven tourist tax
5. Enforcement
6. Apartment buildings and the VME
7. What changes when you manage for owners
8. A pre-signing checklist for a Leuven unit
9. Worked example
10. Questions people ask
11. Sources

This page goes deeper on Leuven than the Flanders section of the Belgium and Netherlands guide, which sets out the regional rules and compares cities.

Airbnb rules in Leuven: the three layers

Flemish registration and the 2026 amendment

The Logiesdecreet applies to every accommodation in Flanders offered for payment, professionally or occasionally, directly or through an intermediary.¹⁰ Leuven repeats the point for its own territory: anyone who lets tourists stay overnight in Leuven for payment must register the accommodation with Toerisme Vlaanderen, and that includes stays through the sharing economy such as Airbnb.³

You register online through Toerisme Vlaanderen’s operator portal with your eID and receive the registration number by email at once; the unit then appears in the public register.¹¹ Booking platforms must ask for that number.¹⁰ Toerisme Vlaanderen lists nine basic conditions, from a fire safety certificate and insurance to compliance with planning permits; Leuven’s pages speak of seven basic norms because they treat registration and the permit as separate steps.¹⁰³ The full list is in registration and the nine basic conditions. Registration does not settle planning, which the city checks.¹⁰

Two things moved in 2026:

• The amendment to the decree. On 17 July 2026 the Flemish Government approved a draft amending the Logiesdecreet, to bring registration in line with EU regulation 2024/1028, and submitted it to the Flemish Parliament.¹³ Toerisme Vlaanderen’s page says an amendment on the unique registration number and on proof of planning conformity follows later in 2026.¹⁰ We found no confirmation on 6 November 2026 that Parliament has adopted it, so treat its details as proposals.
• Fines. Since 1 April 2026, article 12 of the decree allows an administrative fine of €250 to €25,000 for an operator who does not meet the conditions, such as registration, and doubles the amounts for a new offence found within five years.¹²

The permit for tourist use

What the Flemish rules say

The Flemish government’s permit page starts from the same principle: letting a room as tourist accommodation needs a permit in principle.⁹ It then describes two exemptions:⁹

• A complementary function. The building is in a residential area, housing stays its main function, and the tourist part covers less floor area than the home and never more than 100 m².
• A temporary change of use of at most four times 30 days a year, never available if the property lies in a zone where housing is not the designated use.

The same page warns that local rules can be stricter.⁹

What Leuven says

Leuven’s pages do not repeat those exemptions for tourist use. Visit Leuven, the city’s tourism service, puts it plainly:²

Je hebt altijd een omgevingsvergunning voor verblijfsrecreatie nodig, ook als je voor minder dan 90 dagen aan toeristen verhuurt.²

In English: you always need an environmental permit for tourist accommodation, even if you let for less than 90 days. The city’s page on changing a building’s function, which rests on a regulation of 30 May 2005, agrees: functions that fit with housing need no permit below 100 m², but verblijfsrecreatie is expressly excluded from that exemption.¹

The route the city describes for tourist use is narrow:¹

• A partial change of function. You apply in advance for a permit in which verblijfsrecreatie is the subordinate function and housing stays the main function.
• Temporary. The permit is valid for five years at a time.
• You keep living there. As owner or tenant you stay registered (gedomicilieerd) at the address and let part of your home to tourists from time to time.
• Short stays. The purpose is tourism or a short stay, and each guest stays less than 90 days.
• Examples the city gives: a bed and breakfast, or short tourist letting of part of a flat or house.

A whole flat or house

Visit Leuven says you can apply for a new permit or a change of function, for example from housing to verblijfsrecreatie, and that the outcome depends strongly on the building rules at the address.² We found no Leuven page that describes a route for letting a whole flat or house as a holiday home, so we cannot tell you how the city decides such a request. Ask the Dienst Bouwen first; it offers an appointment of about 30 minutes.¹

Two further checks apply to any address:

• Building rules for the parcel. Leuven sends applicants to the bouwvoorschriften for the parcel before they apply.¹²
• Protected buildings. If the house is protected heritage, you may need the city’s permission (toelating) even where no omgevingsvergunning is needed.¹

Student rooms

In February 2026 the alderman for tourism, Liesbeth Vandermeeren, told VRT NWS that some students sublet their student rooms and that this is not allowed at all.¹⁴

Fire safety

Visit Leuven lists a valid and favourable fire safety inspection as one of the basic norms.² Leuven’s own fire safety page covers rented rooms and studios and sends inspection requests to the fire service of the Hulpverleningszone Oost Vlaams-Brabant.⁸ That zone’s inspection page lists tourist accommodation among the places that need an attest. You send your request to the mayor of the municipality where the property is, who orders the fire service to inspect; include your contact details so the fire service can make an appointment.⁷

Inspection visits are charged, but the page gives no amount and no validity period; ask the zone before you quote an owner.⁷ Maintenance duties after registration, such as detector checks, are in fire safety for registered accommodation.

The Leuven tourist tax

Leuven’s council approved the tax regulation on overnight stays in tourist accommodation on 15 December 2025, for the tax years 2026 to 2031.⁵ The main points:⁵

• Who pays. The operator of the tourist accommodation. The holder of the real right in the property, usually the owner, is jointly and severally liable for payment.
• Rate. Per night and per person aged 18 or over, whether or not the stay was paid for: €3.50 in the first quarter of 2026, €4.50 from the second quarter of 2026, €5.50 from the first quarter of 2028. All rates include VAT.
• Exemptions. Recognised hostels, accommodation under article 3 of the Logiesdecreet, and rooms temporarily used by the city for its own goals.
• Declaration. Within 30 calendar days after each quarter you declare the number of overnight stays in that quarter.
• Notification. A new operator, or one who stops or hands over, tells the city within one month.
• Penalties. A missing, wrong or incomplete declaration leads to an assessment by the city increased by 50%. Not notifying costs €100; refusing a tax check or to show records costs €250.

Visit Leuven accepts its spreadsheet template or a clear export from your booking tool, preferably every month, at aangifte.gemeentebelasting@leuven.be; the city’s tax page gives gemeentebelasting@leuven.be, so confirm the address when you register.²⁴ The assessment is payable within two months of the date on the letter.⁴

How Airbnb handles tourist tax in Belgium and how Leuven compares with other cities is in tourist tax for Airbnb hosts in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The tax on second residences

Leuven also taxes second residences: a home where nobody is registered in the population, foreigners or waiting register on 1 January of the declaration year. The owner pays €2,000 per second residence for 2026, and €2,000 indexed for 2027. No tax is due if a tenant is registered there on 1 January.⁶ The page does not say how a home let only to tourists is treated, so ask the city’s tax department before you assume a guest flat is in or out.⁶

Enforcement

Leuven’s enforcement has so far been reactive. In February 2026 VRT NWS reported that, according to the city’s tourism service, only half of the homes let to tourists were in order with the law, and that the city acts on complaints but lacks the staff and means to search actively; the hotel sector called this unfair competition.¹⁴ The alderman expected platform data under the EU regulation to make monitoring easier.¹⁴ Low enforcement today is not a reason to take on a unit without a permit: the decree’s fines already apply and the owner stays jointly liable for the tax.¹²⁵

Apartment buildings and the VME

In a co-owned building, the owners’ association (VME) is another layer. According to the BIV, the Belgian institute for real estate agents, a VME cannot impose a general ban on letting flats, but it can write a specific ban into the statutes, such as on letting through any online platform or as a holiday home. The point must be on the agenda of the general meeting, and amending the statutes needs a four-fifths majority.¹⁵ If the person offering you the flat is a tenant, the lease must allow the letting, which is one of the Flemish basic conditions.¹⁰

What changes when you manage for owners

A co-host usually runs the listing and the guests while the owner holds the permit and the property. Three points follow:

• The operator. The tax regulation makes the operator liable and the owner jointly liable.⁵ Agree in writing who is the registered operator with Toerisme Vlaanderen and with the city, under which enterprise number, and who files the quarterly declaration.
• The permit holder. The partial change of function is tied to someone who lives at the address.¹ If that owner moves out, ask the Dienst Bouwen before you keep letting.
• The five-year clock. Put the permit’s end date in your calendar and agree who applies again.¹

A pre-signing checklist for a Leuven unit

1. Who lives there. Is the owner or tenant registered at the address and letting part of the home, or is it a whole home where nobody lives?¹
2. Permit. Ask for the omgevingsvergunning for verblijfsrecreatie, its date and its end date. No permit means no letting under the city’s rules.²¹
3. Whole home. If nobody lives there, ask the Dienst Bouwen in writing what the building rules allow before you sign.²
4. Student room. If the space is a kot, stop here.¹⁴
5. Registration. Check the unit in the Flemish register and note in whose name it is registered.¹¹
6. Fire safety and insurance. See the fire safety attest, the fire policy and the liability policy; see insurance in Flanders.¹⁰⁷
7. Lease and VME. For a tenant, read the lease clause on subletting; for a flat, read the statutes and the last general meeting minutes.¹⁰¹⁵
8. Taxes. Agree who declares overnight stays each quarter, who tells the city about a new operator within one month, and whether the second-residence tax applies.⁵⁶
9. In writing. Put permit, registration, tax and who pays a fine or a 50% increase in the compliance clause.

Worked example

Questions people ask

Sources

All sources checked 6 November 2026.

1. Stad Leuven, “Functie van gebouw veranderen: heb je omgevingsvergunning nodig?”, Links the regulation on function changes of 30 May 2005, in Dutch
2. Visit Leuven (Stad Leuven), “Starten met een toeristisch logies”, Step-by-step page for new operators, in Dutch
3. Stad Leuven, “Toeristische overnachtingen melden”, In Dutch
4. Stad Leuven, “Belasting op overnachtingen in toeristisch logies”, In Dutch
5. Stad Leuven, “Belastingreglement: overnachtingen in een toeristisch logies (gemeenteraad 15 december 2025)”, Council decision 2025_GR_00620, tax years 2026–2031, PDF in Dutch
6. Stad Leuven, “Belasting op tweede verblijven”, Regulation of 15 December 2025, in Dutch
7. Hulpverleningszone Oost Vlaams-Brabant, “Controle”, Fire service inspections and attests, in Dutch
8. Stad Leuven, “Brandveiligheid”, Fire safety for rented rooms and studios, in Dutch
9. Vlaamse overheid, “Omgevingsvergunning: een kamer van een woning toeristisch verhuren (airbnb,...)”, In Dutch
10. Vlaanderen Vakantieland (Toerisme Vlaanderen), “Het Vlaamse Logiesdecreet”, Last updated 19 August 2026, in Dutch
11. Toerisme Vlaanderen, “Je logies aanmelden”, In Dutch
12. Codex Vlaanderen, “Decreet houdende het toeristische logies (5 februari 2016)”, Consolidated text, article 12 as in force from 1 April 2026, in Dutch
13. Vlaamse Regering (via Belga Share), “Beslissingen van de ministerraad van 17 juli 2026”, Flemish Government decisions, in Dutch
14. VRT NWS, “Leuvense hotelsector vraagt duidelijke aanpak rond Airbnb-verhuurders: 'Oneerlijke concurrentie'”, February 2026, in Dutch
15. BIV, “Vastgoedkwesties: concrete situaties, concrete antwoorden”, Institute for real estate agents, in Dutch

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