Nursing Home Air Conditioning: Rates Could Rise Without Aid

Belgium’s private nursing homes are warning that without new public financial support, the cost of adapting buildings to more frequent heatwaves — including air conditioning — could be pushed onto residents’ bills. Industry federations in both Flanders and French-speaking Belgium say the sector can no longer absorb the investments needed to protect elderly residents from extreme summer heat.

A Deadly Summer

The warning comes after Belgium’s deadliest heatwave since 2000. According to official figures from Sciensano, the 18 June to 1 July heatwave caused 1,747 excess deaths — an excess mortality rate of 47.8 percent — with Wallonia the hardest-hit region at 76 percent. Belgian rules already require care homes to provide air-conditioned communal spaces during high temperatures, but sector leaders say going further requires major investment; most private care homes occupy older buildings whose renovation for heat resilience is costly.

Sector Calls for Rate Flexibility

In Flanders, Vlozo, the umbrella organisation for private care homes, has asked the government to let cooling investments — such as air conditioning — be passed through the daily rate residents pay. CEO Candice De Windt told VRT NWS that “the aging wave combined with climate change means we can no longer regard air conditioning as a luxury” and that it should become standard. At present, Flemish care homes may only index their daily rates, not raise them freely.

Francophone homes are sounding the same alarm. Thierry Gilson, legal adviser to Femarbel, told RTBF that the recent heatwaves “show that we have a problem that is really a societal problem,” with ever-growing regulatory costs threatening margins. Air-conditioning every room will never be possible, he said; instead, homes need a global reflection on modernisation, thermal comfort and adapted spaces during intense heat. “If you have more expenses and less income, there is a problem,” he added. “Either it unfortunately passes through to the resident, with the pension problem we know, or it is up to politicians to take their responsibilities.”

Flemish Welfare Minister Caroline Gennez has ruled out simply allowing higher daily rates, saying they “cannot simply be increased.” Instead, she said the government is examining how construction subsidies could encourage heat-resistant building and renovation, and whether targeted support for smaller investments such as mobile air conditioners and sun shading is possible. In Wallonia, Health Minister Yves Coppieters is pursuing the “autonomy guarantee” reform, which aims to keep elderly people at home longer through stronger home-care services — an approach an expert report says would cost less than building new nursing-home places.

Opposition to passing costs on to residents is firm. Magda De Meyer, president of the Flemish Seniors’ Council, told HLN that residents “must not pay for this” and that the proposal meets “a clear no pasaran,” criticising commercial operators for having “the highest prices, the least staff and the largest profit payouts to shareholders.” Groen MP Jeremie Vaneeckhout said “such indispensable cooling should be part of the care cost, because without it you put people in danger.”

Who Pays for a Hotter Future?

The dispute sits at the intersection of three trends: a rapidly ageing population, accelerating climate change and the rising cost of institutional care. The June heatwave gave the debate tragic urgency — excess mortality was recorded across all adult age groups — and more hot weather is expected in the weeks ahead. For operators, the investments are real: the average Flemish daily rate is about 74.50 euros, or roughly 2,300 euros per month, and residents already draw on savings to cover the gap with their pensions. For politicians, the challenge is keeping care affordable while making it climate-resilient. The parallel responses — Flanders weighing subsidies, Wallonia rethinking the care model itself — show how unsettled the policy remains.

What to Watch

Concrete decisions are still pending. The review of Flemish construction subsidies and the financing of Wallonia’s autonomy guarantee will be the first tests of whether governments treat cooling as part of the care cost. With heatwaves expected to return, the pressure to find an answer before another deadly summer will only grow.