The Joint Rental Commission in Brussels is “dysfunctional” and current measures to combat excessive rents are “insufficient” and “ineffective,” according to a report published Saturday by Wuune, a local residents’ union.
Wuune analysed 45 decisions made in 2025 by the newly established Joint Rental Commission. In 29 of these cases, the Commission found the rents charged to tenants to be reasonable and rejected requests to lower them.
Only nine decisions identified rents as excessive, which Wuune described as deeply disappointing.
The report states that the Commission frequently relies on subjective criteria of “comfort” to justify rents exceeding the index-based reference guide, undermining its effectiveness.
Additionally, Wuune criticised the lengthy and risky procedure tenants must undergo, along with a lack of adequate protection against landlord retaliation.
“The recourse to the Joint Rental Commission is largely ineffective for tenants,” the union concluded, warning that rent prices have become unaffordable for a growing number of Brussels households.
The Commission was established in 2024 by Brussels authorities to combat excessive rents. Its decisions are supposed to be based primarily on compliance with the official rent reference guide.
In Brussels, half the population relies on the private rental market for housing, while only 6% resides in social housing with rents adjusted to their income.
