The Walloon government approved, in first reading, the terms of a new energy renovation support scheme that will take effect on 1 October 2026 and target the region's worst-performing homes, according to Wallonia's Minister of Energy and Housing, Cécile Neven, as reported by La Libre. The new regime, described as "simple, legible, efficient and financially sustainable", replaces a transitional system introduced in an emergency in February 2025 after the previous grant and loan scheme ran over budget.
Under the reform, regional support will be reserved for the most energy-hungry homes, those rated PEB (Performance Energétique du Bâtiment, the Belgian energy performance certificate) G, F or E, with a mandatory "label jump" requirement. Projects will only be eligible if they lift homes rated PEB G or F to at least label D, and homes rated PEB E to at least label C. "With this new regime, we will now concentrate public resources where they produce the most impact, that is, as a priority on energy-guzzling homes," Neven said, according to La Libre.
A single instrument, the loan, will structure regional aid through two tracks. The first is the Rénopack, a zero-interest loan combined with a reduction in the amount to be repaid that functions like a subsidy. The second is the Rénoprêt, a variable-rate loan calculated according to the income category of the applicant household, reserved for the highest income bracket, landlord-owners and co-ownership associations. The maximum amount that can be borrowed will rise to 75.000 euros for single-family houses, up from 60.000 euros previously.
The reform replaces a system that had grown to more than 120 separate grants across four different regimes, with processing times of one to two years and a budget overrun of one billion euros, according to the government communiqué cited by La Libre.