Belgium’s Abandoned State Buildings: 385,000 m² Left Vacant
An investigation by Belgian public broadcaster RTBF has revealed that dozens of state-owned buildings across Belgium remain abandoned, raising serious questions about the federal government’s management of public property. Despite the creation of a digital cadastre in October 2025, 5.5% of federal buildings — representing 385,000 m² of unused space, equivalent to 55 football fields — are still unoccupied.
A Decade of Neglect
The problem is not new. Buildings such as the former State Archives in Namur and the former Justice of the Peace in Grivegnée have been abandoned since 2014. In Brussels, an office building belonging to the SPF Pensions on the prestigious Avenue de Tervueren remained vacant for several years before being temporarily occupied by a citizen collective. In April 2023, VRT NWS reported that at least 500,000 m² of 887 federal buildings were empty, with approximately 100,000 m² being rented but left unoccupied.
A Fragmented Management System
A central finding of the investigation is the lack of centralized management. While most federal properties fall under the Régie des Bâtiments (Belgian Buildings Agency), certain public services — such as the SPF Pensions — manage their own real estate independently. This fragmentation has historically prevented the state from having a complete picture of its own property portfolio.
The federal state owns 2,299 buildings across 886 sites, totaling 7 million m², according to the cadastre finalized in October 2025. As RTL Info reported, this represents nearly 1,000 football fields of property managed by the state.
Empty Buildings, Ongoing Costs
Vacant buildings continue to drain public finances. Maintenance, security, and municipal taxes on unoccupied properties still apply. In Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Mayor Benoît Cerexhe (Les Engagés) applied over €300,000 in taxes on unoccupied buildings to the SPF Pensions for leaving a building vacant for several years.
“We hear speeches where we are asked to scrape the bottom of the drawers… and here, we leave a building of such value abandoned for years,” Cerexhe told RTBF. “I wrote to the SPF Pensions several times. After five years, they still tell me they don’t know what the future of this building will be.”
The Digital Cadastre: A Step Forward with Limitations
Minister Vanessa Matz (Les Engagés), Minister of Public Action and Modernization in charge of the Régie des Bâtiments, launched a digital cadastre of federal buildings in October 2025. The tool was designed to centralize data, identify vacant buildings, and accelerate decisions on sales or reallocation. As noted on her official website, Matz described it as a “tool of administrative transparency” and a “tool for good management of an enormous portfolio.”
However, the investigation reveals significant limitations. The cadastre is currently accessible only to federal parliamentarians — not to journalists or citizens. Several MPs reported technical difficulties accessing it. Ecolo MP Sarah Schlitz stated: “I sent emails to get these accesses, I never got a reply… If we wanted to make parliamentarians give up, we couldn’t do it better.” PS MP Marie Meunier added: “If I want to know how many buildings are empty in my region, I have to check each address one by one. It’s not very intuitive. It’s impractical.”
Structural Disincentives and Bureaucratic Inertia
Former Secretary of State for the Régie des Bâtiments, Mathieu Michel (MR), pointed to a structural budgetary problem: when a building is sold, the revenue does not automatically return to the Régie to finance new projects. Revenue not spent within the fiscal year reverts to the general state budget, creating a disincentive to accelerate sales.
The investigation describes the Régie des Bâtiments as a “huge administrative machine,” with heavy public procurement processes, lengthy procedures, and a lack of technical staff. Some real estate files can take years before a decision to sell or renovate is made.
Minister Matz herself acknowledged the slow pace: “Things are going too slowly,” she told RTBF. “It is not acceptable that for years, we have buildings that are empty, not maintained. It costs money. We ask citizens to make efforts and the State would not be exemplary in its own management.”
What’s Next?
Fifty buildings were sold in 2025, according to Minister Matz, and the vacancy rate has marginally improved from 6% to 5.5%. However, with 385,000 m² still vacant and the digital cadastre still in its early stages, significant questions remain. Will the cadastre be opened to journalists and citizens? Can the government address the structural budgetary disincentives that discourage timely sales? And what concrete timeline does Minister Matz have for reducing the vacancy rate further?
For now, the investigation makes clear that Belgium’s problem with abandoned state property is not merely a matter of a few neglected buildings — it is a systemic failure of governance, transparency, and public accountability.