Mijn VerbouwPremie 2026: what changes and what it means for your renovation budget

New rules apply from 1 March 2026. What you need to know before you decide.

From 1 March 2026, the Flemish government is making significant changes to Mijn VerbouwPremie, the central Flemish renovation subsidy. For owners with higher incomes (categories 1 and 2), most premiums disappear. Lower and middle incomes (categories 3 and 4) keep their support unchanged. On top of that, Mijn EPC-Labelpremie, the premium for reaching a better EPC label, disappears for anyone starting a new track after 1 January 2026. For anyone buying or renovating a home, that has a direct impact on the budget.

But what exactly changes? And for whom? And how much premium can you still get?

What Mijn VerbouwPremie is in 2026

Mijn VerbouwPremie remains the central Flemish premium for renovation and energy-saving investments. It applies to work on roofs, exterior walls and floors, to windows and doors (with mandatory ventilation requirements), to heat pumps and heat pump boilers, and to certain preparatory works.

A few fixed rules:

• Only renovations qualify. Demolition and reconstruction fall outside the scheme.
• The works must be carried out by a recognised contractor.
• Invoices may be no more than two years old at the time of application.
• Per category you can apply for only one premium within a period of five years (ten years for heat pumps).
• The premium can only be applied for after the works are completed and fully invoiced. The minimum invoice amount is 1 000 euros excluding VAT per category.

How income categories determine how much premium you get

The size of the premium depends on your income category, set on the basis of the most recent tax assessment and your household situation. Category 1 covers the highest incomes, category 4 the lowest.

Note: anyone who owns a second home or building land falls into category 1 automatically, regardless of actual income. The exception: a second home that is rented out socially.

Non-residential buildings (offices, shops, business premises) no longer qualify for Mijn VerbouwPremie at all from 1 March 2026.

What happens to Mijn EPC-Labelpremie

The EPC label premium disappears, but the phase-out runs in stages. It matters which transitional rule applies:

• Track activated before 1 January 2025 (the old system at Fluvius): you keep the right to payment within the normal term of five years and six months.
• Start EPC dated on or before 31 December 2025: you can still apply for the premium up to and including 30 June 2026.
• Start EPC from 1 January 2026: you no longer qualify for the EPC label premium.

So the premium is not simply "abolished on 1 July 2026". The phase-out depends on when you started your EPC track. Anyone who still wants to benefit from the transitional rule needed a valid start EPC before 1 January 2026.

What Mijn VerbouwLening is in 2026

Alongside premiums there is also Mijn VerbouwLening, the Flemish renovation loan. Owner-occupiers in categories 3 and 4, and landlords renting to a housing association, can borrow up to 60 000 euros for energy renovation works.

From 2026, the interest conditions become more favourable:

• Category 3: 0.5% interest
• Category 4: 0% interest (interest-free loan)

Additional conditions: the applicant may not hold another home or building land in full ownership, and the building must have been connected to the electricity grid before 1 January 2006. The minimum loan amount is 4 000 euros.

The combination of a premium and a low-interest loan makes energy renovation particularly attractive for lower incomes.

Why this matters for buyers, real estate agents and banks

Because of the renovation obligation and stricter energy targets, renovation plays a growing role in purchase decisions. Buyers want to know:

• How much premium am I still entitled to after 1 March 2026?
• Which income category do I fall into?
• How much do I have to finance myself?
• Is it financially smart to plan certain works before or after a given date?

For real estate agents and banks, those questions come up daily. But without a correct calculation, the answer stays an estimate. And that is where uncertainty starts.

How Setle helps calculate your renovation budget

Setle translates complex regulation into clear figures. The tool calculates:

• The renovation cost (energy-related and cosmetic)
• A premium estimate based on income category
• The impact on the financing
• A clear report you can use in a credit application

That way renovation stops being an uncertain factor in the purchase process and becomes a substantiated plan.

Why 2026 is the year of transparency in renovation

The reform of Mijn VerbouwPremie shows how quickly regulation can change. Premiums disappear for higher incomes, percentages shift and the EPC label premium is coming to an end.

Anyone buying or renovating today needs clarity before the decision, not afterwards.

Transparency speeds up renovation. Clarity speeds up sales.

And that is exactly where Setle makes the difference: replacing uncertainty with clear insight, confidence and action.