EPC Premium in Belgium: Grants Tied to Your Label

There is no single grant in Belgium called an EPC premium. People searching for it mean one of two things: the renovation grant that your energy label gives you access to, or the higher price a well rated home gets when it is sold.

Both come back to the same document. Your energy performance certificate, and in Wallonia the housing audit that goes with it, is what a region and a buyer read before deciding what your home is worth to them.

This page explains which scheme pays what, in which region, and what the label itself changes on resale.

What people mean by an EPC premium

In Dutch the word is premie, in French it is prime, and both translate to premium in English. An EPC premium is therefore almost always a renovation grant tied to your energy label, not a bonus paid for holding a certificate.

No Belgian region pays you for owning an EPC. The certificate is the entry ticket: it records the label you start from, it justifies the works you want to claim for, and it later proves that the label went up.

The second meaning is a market one. Two identical flats with different labels do not sell for the same price, because a buyer reads a poor label as a bill they will have to pay after the deed.

Everything below assumes the first meaning, since that is what people are looking for when they ask how to get a premium out of their EPC.

Wallonia: the audit comes before the grant

In Wallonia the main scheme is called Prime Habitation, and it starts with a housing audit carried out by an accredited auditor before any work begins.

The auditor ranks the recommended works in a priority order. That order is binding: insulation before heating, roof before walls. Works launched before the audit are not eligible, which is the mistake that costs the most files.

The amount depends on the household, not only on the works. Income categories act as multipliers on a base premium, and the transitional scheme caps the result at 70% including VAT for the lowest income categories and 50% for the higher ones.

The transitional scheme has a hard end date: every application, audit, works and final invoice included, has to be filed by 30 September 2026. If your project runs close to that date, the calendar matters more than the amount.

Our detailed guide on renovation grants in Wallonia covers the ceilings per type of work and the documents to attach.

Flanders: Mijn VerbouwPremie reads your label

In Flanders the scheme is Mijn VerbouwPremie, and your EPC is what tells you which works are still worth claiming for.

Since 1 March 2026 the two highest income categories can only claim the heat pump or the heat pump water heater. For insulation, windows and roofing, those categories no longer receive a premium. The lower income categories keep access to the full range.

That change makes the label reading order clear. If you sit in a higher income category, the grant is no longer the reason to insulate, but the label and the energy bill still are.

You can check what your works would bring in the Flemish renovation grants article before you commit a budget.

Brussels: support on hold, the label still counts

In Brussels the Renolution grants are not the reliable line in a budget that they used to be, and as of April 2026 no government decision had been announced on new forms of financial support for renovation.

Practical consequence: for a Brussels flat, build your budget on the works themselves and treat any premium as a bonus you confirm on the regional site before signing. Any figure you find in an older article is likely out of date.

The federal measures do not depend on the region. The reduced VAT rate of 6% applies to homes at least 10 years old instead of the standard 21%, and that saving lands on the invoice whether or not a regional premium follows.

What a better label is worth when you sell

A better label also works as a premium on the price, because it removes work that the buyer would otherwise have to finance.

The label is public at sale and at rental, so it is negotiated. A buyer who reads F or G budgets insulation, windows and heating, then subtracts that from the offer. A seller with a good label sells the absence of that budget.

Regional obligations push in the same direction: the worse the label, the more likely the next owner faces a legal duty to improve it within a set period.

You can see how labels are distributed next to median prices on our EPC data pages and compare with the median prices per municipality, which come from notarial deeds published by Statbel.

From certificate to application, step by step

The order matters more than the paperwork. Certificate or audit first, quotes second, works third, application last.

1. Get your current EPC, or the housing audit if you are in Wallonia and want the main scheme.
2. Read the recommended order of works and keep it.
3. Ask at least two quotes from registered contractors, on the same written scope.
4. Have the works carried out and keep every invoice and proof of payment in the applicant's name.
5. File the application with the regional administration within the deadline announced for your scheme.
6. Order a new certificate once the works are done, so the improved label exists on paper.

The last step is the one owners skip. Without a new certificate, the better label does not show up when you sell or rent, and the value premium stays invisible.

FAQ

Is an EPC premium a payment for getting a certificate?

No. Regions fund works, not documents. Wallonia does support part of the cost of the housing audit, which is the closest thing to being paid for the paperwork, but the audit only pays off if the recommended works follow.

Do I need a new EPC after the renovation?

Yes, if you want the improved label to be usable. The old certificate keeps the old label until a new one is drawn up, so order a new certificate once the works are finished and invoiced.

Which rules apply if I own flats in two regions?

The address of each property decides. A flat in Antwerp follows the Flemish scheme and a flat in Liege follows the Walloon one, even when the owner and the works are identical.