2025年下半年布鲁塞尔办公楼市场报告

TheBrussels OfficeMarketH22025 Brussels: a miserable new record heightens uncertainty Two-speed Brussels. The Brussels Region has, as of January 2026, exceeded 600 days without a government since the 2024elections, beating the previous record (held by the Belgian federal government) in December 2025. The most recent attempt to form a government, led by Les Engagés (historically a centre-left party) was beenlaunched at the expense of the MR (centre-right/liberal), but failed during the latter half of January. This semester we offer an alternative look at occupier activity in 2025. Concerns about the Region’s finances continue to intensify. The accounts are in the red and the level ofpublic debt has become exceptionally high, now exceeding 14 billion euros, equivalent to roughly 250 % ofthe Region’s annual revenues. The burden is set to rise further because of higher interest rates and a growingreluctance among lenders to maintain their exposure to Brussels. BelgianGDP growthis expected to remain modest, forecast at 1.1% in 2026.Although inflation is easing and confidence among households is improving,domestic demand will stay constrained. Household purchasing power is setto rise only slightly, partly due to cuts in unemployment benefits. Domesticdemand is projected to grow at a slightly faster pace in 2026 and 2027. MarketTrendsIndicators (H22025) The state of urgency continues to gain ground, as two of the Region’s creditors have threatened to suspendtheir credit lines. Business services are experiencing weaker activity and rising marginpressure, which is prompting firms to accelerate digitalisation and costreduction. Logistics and warehousing activity remains broadly stable,despite persistently tight margins, especially in logistics. The region is currently operating a provisional twelfths scheme, spending one twelfth of its 2024 budgeteach month. This negatively impacts the long-term running of the region and new schemes and visionscannot be implemented with the old majority acting in a caretaker role. External demand is expected to stay subdued in 2026 because of weakindustrial activity in the eurozone and a broader slowdown in global trade.US tariffs have added pressure on Belgian exports, although their impact waspartly offset by frontloaded shipments in 2025. Exports are expected torecover from 2026 as wage growth moderates and competitiveness improves.In the long term, unpredictable market conditions continue to limit businessplanning. As a result, Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit rating of the Brussels Capital Region from A+ to A inJune 2025, assigning a negative outlook. This decision highlights worries regarding the region's capacity tohandle its budget deficits and elevated debt levels. As of October, Moody’s has maintained Belgium’s creditrating at Aa3 with a negative outlook. Inflationis forecast to decrease in 2026, driven by lower price pressures forindustrial goods and energy, before rising in 2027 following an increase inenergy prices, partly reflecting the introduction of ETS-related costs. Occupieractivity Employment in Belgium is expected to rise by about 35,000-40,000 in 2026,while unemployment is projected to remain broadly stable or rise slightly.The aforementioned unemployment reform will push some jobseekers out ofthe labour force, leading to a slight contraction in participation.Employment growth, which slowed in 2024 due to industrial job losses, is setto pick up as investment improves and labour market reforms take effect. Interpreting market dynamism is entirely dependent on the point of view… Point of view 1: the superficial take-demand is increasing, market is graduallyimproving. Overall, annual take-up has achieved its best levelin the past four years, increasing 17% year-on-yearto reach 383,000 sq m, and exceeding the five-yearaverage level. The unemploymentrate is projected to move from 6.0 % in 2025 to 6.2 % by the end of 2026 as a short-termconsequence of labour market and pension reforms, before decreasing slightly in 2027. Source:European Commission, IRES, National Bank of BelgiumAgeing costs (pension and healthcare), interest payments and defence spending are expected to driveexpenditure up. Defence outlays are projected to rise gradually towards 2 % of GDP in 2027. Thedeficitisforecast to reach 5.5% of GDP in 2026 and to widen further to 5.9% in 2027. Take-up during the second half of the year made astrong contribution to the overall figure, with210,000 sq m recorded. Those are the official figures... Point of view 2: a two-speed occupiermarket offers contrasting views... The year that was 2025 warrants a different ofexamination. Indeed, a trend which has alwayscarried some weight in Brussels but has gainedmomentum in 2025: an increasing dependenceon above-average occupier moves. For the purpose of this report we therefore divide the market in two tiers, according to deal sizes, each offeringcontrasting and very real stories affecting