Renovation grants in a co-ownership: where to start, from the common parts EPC
The façade has to be redone anyway, someone suggests insulating at the same time, and someone else replies that there are grants. Here is the order in which to build the file so that the project holds up, grant or no grant.
Contents of this page
- Have the whole building assessedStart from the EPC for the common parts and order an audit that covers the entire building, not a single flat, and ranks the works in a useful order.
- Cost a scenario, not a wishChoose a scenario from the audit and have the quotes drawn up on a single specification.
- Check the state of the grants before the voteConsult the official pages of Flanders, or of Brussels if your building is there, in the month of the vote: the schemes change from one date to the next.
- Vote on works and funding togetherPut the project, the majority obtained, the amount and the source of the money in the same decision.
- Have invoices made out to the associationRequire quotes and invoices to state the name and company number of the association.
- File the documents togetherKeep the EPC, the audit report, the decision, quotes, invoices and proofs of payment in one place.
The façade has to be redone anyway. Someone suggests insulating at the same time, someone else points out that renovation grants exist for a co-ownership, and the general meeting votes in principle for a study. Six months later the building has three quotes that do not cover the same works, no audit report, nobody has looked at the EPC for the common parts, and nobody knows in whose name the grant application should go.
In a co-ownership, the order of the steps matters more than the size of the grant. A file built in the right order, audit, then decision, then funding, then application, remains usable when the grant scheme changes along the way. And it does change. Anyone who starts from the amount they hope to receive is brought to a halt as soon as the rule moves. This page therefore follows the real order, for a building in Flanders or in Brussels.
Start with the audit, not the quotes
An audit serves two purposes at once, and the second is often forgotten.
The first is technical. Insulating a façade before dealing with the roof and the waterproofing amounts to moving the problem, sometimes to creating it: cold bridges concentrate elsewhere, condensation follows. An audit report puts the items in an order that holds, puts a figure on the expected gains and makes it possible to split the project into fundable phases. In a building it must cover the entire building, envelope and collective systems included, not a sample flat.
The second is administrative. In Flanders, every apartment building with at least two residential units must have an energy performance certificate for the common parts (EPC gemeenschappelijke delen). That certificate shows how energy-efficient the roof, the walls, the stairwell, the lift and the collective installations are, and indicates how that performance can be improved. The owners' association (VME/ACP), represented by the property manager (syndic), appoints a type A energy assessor for it. The EPC is valid for up to ten years, but a new one is needed as soon as at least 15% of the building envelope is replaced or (further) insulated, or collective installations are replaced. So plan a new one after the works. Its data are used automatically for the EPCs of the individual flats. For the basic Mijn VerbouwPremie grant for common parts, the official page mentions no audit or EPC condition. The EPC is therefore a starting point and a legal duty, not a substitute for an audit of the whole building.
Once the scenario has been chosen, the competitive tenderingGlossaryObligation to compare several offers for contracts above the threshold set by the general meeting by a two-thirds majority. The syndic must then present several quotes. See the glossary is prepared as for any other project: a single specification, the same items in the same order, and offers that finally become comparable. The details of this process are in co-ownership building works.
Which majority is needed to vote for these works?
Insulating, replacing a collective boiler, installing shared ventilation: these projects affect the common parts and are voted by a two-thirds majorityGlossaryMajority required in particular for works affecting the common parts, other than works required by law and protective works, and for amendments to the articles that concern only the enjoyment, use or management of the common parts. See the glossary of the votes (Art. 3.88, § 1, 1°, b), Civil Code). Two families escape that threshold and are decided by an absolute majority of the co-owners present or represented: works required by law, and protective works and acts of provisional administration.
The distinction matters more today than ten years ago, because part of energy renovation is gradually moving into the category of required works. In Flanders, every apartment bought since 2023 with label E or F must reach at least label D within six years of the notarial deed. The obligation applies to the dwelling unit, not to the common parts, but works on the roof or on the collective heating may be needed to reach the label, and works required by law are decided by a simple majority (renovation obligation, Vlaanderen.be, in Dutch). In the Brussels-Capital Region, every dwelling must comply with a maximum consumption of 275 kWh/m² per year on 1 January 2033, then of 150 kWh/m² per year at the earliest on 31 December 2045, and the owners' association is responsible for certain energy performance requirements and procedures (Brussels Environment, EPB targets, in French). A poorly rated building therefore does not just have a heating bill to bring down: it has a deadline.
Above that, a four-fifths majority is required as soon as the decision touches the legal structure of the building, and in particular the apportionment of charges (Art. 3.88, § 1, 2°). This is the classic trap of an energy project: the works pass at two-thirds, but the new heating apportionment key you would like to adopt at the same time requires four-fifths. Put two separate items on the agenda. How votes are counted is explained in detail in voting rules and majorities.
The case of window frames
Window frames often belong to the private parts, and replacing them one by one costs more for an uneven result. The Civil Code opens a door.
“subject to a specific justification, on the execution of works to certain private parts which, for technical or economic reasons, will be carried out by the association”Art. 3.88, § 1, 1°, d), Civil Code
Two conditions, then. The specific justification appears in the decision itself, not in the background or in an email exchange. And that decision organises how the works are carried out without changing how their cost is split between the co-owners concerned.
Who applies for the grant, the association or each co-owner?
For works on the common parts, the answer is the association. It has legal personality and a company number at the Crossroads Bank for EnterprisesGlossaryFederal register of entities registered in Belgium, managed by the FPS Economy. The owners' association has a company number in it, which must appear on all its documents, and the syndic must be registered in it. See the glossary (Art. 3.86, § 1, Civil Code), which allows it to be the applicant and the addressee of the invoices. In Flanders, the VME, represented by the syndic, applies for the basic Mijn VerbouwPremie grant, with one application per category for the whole building. The contractor issues a single invoice for the whole building in the name of the VME, and the application must include the deed of division (acte de base / basisakte), the list of owners and their shares. The additional grant, by contrast, is reserved for owner-occupiers in income category 3 or 4 and for landlords letting to a social housing company.
The point to watch is mundane and costly. A quote made out to the syndic, to their firm or to a co-owner on the council makes the file unusable, because the invoice no longer matches the applicant. Have the name corrected before signing, not after installation.
Works concerning a single unit follow the other route: the co-owner concerned applies on their own account. A building can therefore run two files in parallel, a collective one for the envelope and the shared heating, an individual one for what remains private.
Where the grants stand, and how to take them into account
In early October 2026 the situation is in flux, and it deserves an honest look before you build a funding plan.
In Flanders, Mijn VerbouwPremie changed on 1 March 2026. The basic grant for works on common parts remains available for all categories of works, and a VME can apply for it. You only submit the application once all the works have been carried out and you have received the final invoice, and the invoices may be no more than two years old on the date of application. On the Brussels side, the official grants portal states that, to date, there is no government decision on any new forms of financial support for renovation (Renolution, financial support, in French). The amounts, conditions and timetable of regional renovation grants change from one scheme to the next: check them with the competent authority before planning works.
Our reading is simple. A meeting does not vote for a project whose balance depends on a grant that is not open. It votes for a project that can be funded without a grant, and treats any grant as a refund that will lighten the reserve fund or the next call. This discipline avoids the most painful situation: works under way, a scheme that changes, and co-owners being told about a supplement.
Funding the works with what the building really has
Three levers exist, and they complement rather than replace one another.
| Lever | What it allows | Its limit |
|---|---|---|
| Reserve fund | Absorbing all or part of a heavy item without an exceptional call | Depends on what was set aside in previous years |
| Staggered call for funds | Spreading the burden over several instalments, before and during the works | Assumes a voted schedule, not a series of improvised calls |
| Annual budget | Entering the foreseeable extraordinary costs of the year in advance | Does not cover a project decided during the year without provision |
The reserve fundGlossaryTotal of the periodic contributions intended for non-recurring expenditure, such as replacing the heating system or the lift. It becomes mandatory no later than five years after provisional acceptance, with an annual contribution of at least 5% of the previous financial year's ordinary service charges, unless the general meeting decides otherwise by a four-fifths majority. See the glossary is the first tool of a co-ownership that knows it is ageing. It is intended for non-recurring expenses, such as renewing the heating system or a new roof covering, and the association must set it up no later than five years after the provisional acceptance of the common parts, with an annual contribution of at least five per cent of the total ordinary common charges of the previous financial year, unless a contrary decision is taken by a four-fifths majority (Art. 3.86, § 3, Civil Code). A co-ownership that has used the option of staying below that threshold for ten years will pay for its renovation through painful calls for funds. How the two funds work is described in working capital and reserve fund.
Each year the syndic draws up a budget for current expenses and for foreseeable extraordinary costs (Art. 3.89, § 5, 16°). A renovation announced by an audit falls squarely into that second category: it is prepared two financial years in advance, not on the evening of the vote. The annual trade-offs are described in co-ownership budget.
That leaves maintenance, which is not a separate subject. A maintained roof, cleared gutters and clean ventilation grilles push the major project back by several years and determine whether the insulation laid on top will last: see common parts maintenance. For the other decisions in the life of the building, go back to the page day-to-day living.
Do, avoid
- Have the audit cover the whole building
- Compare quotes item by item, on an identical specification
- Check the exact name of the association on every invoice
- Record in the minutes the date on which the official grant pages were consulted
- Voting for a project whose balance depends on a grant not yet obtained
- Insulating the façade before the roof and waterproofing have been dealt with
- Allowing invoices to be made out to a co-owner or to the syndic
- Postponing payments into the reserve fund while waiting for a new grant scheme
Where energy renovation files most often get stuck
| Stage | What blocks | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Audit | The study covers a sample flat and does not apply to the building | Ask for a report covering the whole building, envelope and collective systems |
| Agenda | The item announces ‘energy renovation’ with no scope and no required majority | Break it down into packages of works and announce the applicable majority for each |
| Quotes | The offers mix insulation, window frames and heating over different scopes | Rewrite a single specification and ask for prices again on that basis |
| Invoicing | The quote is made out to the syndic or to a co-owner | Have it corrected before signing, with the name and company number of the association |
| Funding | The plan relies on a hoped-for grant whose scheme is not open | Build the funding without the grant, and treat the grant as a possible refund |
| Window frames | Replacement across the building is voted without the required specific justification | Write the technical or economic justification into the decision itself |
Frequently asked questions
Is an audit needed before voting on an energy renovation?
The co-ownership legislation does not require one. In Flanders, however, every apartment building with at least two residential units must have an EPC for the common parts, which also indicates how performance can be improved. For the basic Mijn VerbouwPremie grant for common parts, the official page mentions no audit or EPC condition; an audit of the whole building remains the best way to put the works in the right order.
Which majority is needed to insulate the façade?
A two-thirds majority of the votes, because these are works affecting the common parts (Art. 3.88, § 1, 1°, b), Civil Code). Works required by law and protective works fall under the absolute majority, and any change to the apportionment of charges requires four-fifths.
Can the association have the window frames of every flat replaced?
Yes, subject to a specific justification, by a two-thirds majority, where technical or economic reasons justify it (Art. 3.88, § 1, 1°, d), Civil Code). That decision organises how the works are carried out; it does not change how their cost is split between co-owners.
Who applies for the grant, the association or each co-owner?
For works on the common parts, it is the owners' association, which has legal personality and a company number (Art. 3.86, § 1, Civil Code). In Flanders, the VME, represented by the syndic, applies for the basic Mijn VerbouwPremie grant, and the invoices are made out to the VME. Each co-owner remains the applicant for works concerning their unit alone.
Can we vote for works now and apply for the grant later?
In Flanders that is actually the rule: you only submit the Mijn VerbouwPremie application once all the works have been carried out and you have received the final invoice, and the invoices may be no more than two years old on the date of application. So check which conditions apply before ordering the works, and keep every dated document.