Brussels Council Approves New Mobility Plan, Raises Affordable Housing Targets

Brussels City Council wrapped up its July session on Monday with a series of votes touching three policy areas that community organisations have been lobbying on for months: urban mobility, affordable housing supply and the regulation of short-term rental properties. The decisions will affect tens of thousands of residents across the Brussels-Capital Region, from commuters in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean to tenants in Ixelles who have watched rents climb steadily since 2022.

The timing matters. The Brussels-Capital Region is midway through implementing its Good Move regional mobility plan, first adopted in 2020, and pressure has mounted on local councils to align their own decisions with that framework. Meanwhile, vacancy rates for social housing managed by the Société du Logement de la Région Bruxelloise remain a persistent concern. According to the SLRB's most recent published figures, approximately 46,000 households are on the waiting list for social housing in the region, a number that advocacy groups say has grown by roughly 8 percent since 2023.

Mobility Votes and What They Change on the Ground

The council backed an amendment extending the low-emission zone, known locally as the LEZ, to cover six additional streets in the Pentagone district by January 2027. Urban mobility analysts say the extension is consistent with the city's air-quality commitments under the European Commission's Zero Pollution Action Plan, but note that enforcement capacity will need to scale accordingly. Local shopkeepers' associations in the Rue Neuve corridor have raised concerns about delivery vehicle access during transition, and the council agreed to a six-month exemption review process for commercial operators registered before July 2026.

A second mobility vote allocated 2.4 million euros from the regional urban renewal fund toward cycle infrastructure on the Boulevard du Midi and Avenue de Stalingrad. Community cycling groups welcomed the figure but pointed out it falls short of the 3.8 million euros their 2025 petition had requested. The infrastructure is projected to be operational by late 2027 under the current procurement timeline.

Housing Quotas and the Short-Term Rental Debate

The most contested vote of the session involved a new requirement that any residential development of ten units or more in the central Pentagon zone must designate at least 20 percent of floor area as conventioned housing, meaning rent-capped units regulated under Bruxelles Logement guidelines. Property developers' representatives told the council the threshold is higher than comparable obligations in other Belgian cities, while tenant advocacy organisations argued the share should be 25 percent to make a meaningful dent in the waiting list. The motion passed by a margin of 31 to 18, with four abstentions.

On short-term rentals, councillors voted to require all Airbnb-style operators in the Region to register with the commune of operation and cap the number of nights per calendar year at 90, down from the previous 120-night threshold. The Brussels regional government says the policy will help return approximately 800 units currently used as tourist accommodation back to the long-term rental market by the end of 2026, though housing analysts caution that conversion rates from similar policies in other European cities have typically fallen below initial projections.

What this means practically for Brussels residents is a mix of near-term inconvenience and longer-term potential relief. Drivers in the expanded LEZ will need to verify their vehicle's Euro emissions standard before entering the new zone, with fines starting at 350 euros for non-compliance. Prospective tenants on the SLRB waiting list may see a modest increase in available conventioned units from new developments, but policy analysts note the pipeline effect will take two to four years to materialise given current construction lead times.

The next full council session is scheduled for September 2026. Between now and then, the mobility and housing delegations are expected to publish implementation decrees for each measure, and the commune-level registries for short-term rental operators must be operational by 1 October under the timeline approved Monday. Residents can submit comments on the implementation decrees through Bruxelles Participatif, the regional public consultation portal, until 31 August.