Costs to move vary greatly among Brussels municipalities
Moving into or out of Brussels municipalities can be challenging logistically, but your pocketbook can also take a beating – depending on where you’ve chosen to live
Brussels-City most expensive
Everyone who has moved within Brussels knows that a permit is required to block the street in front of the old and new place. Whether you’ve got a moving van or are just shifting a few boxes yourself, you need to keep space on the street free with signs rented from town hall.
That will cost you €114 a day in Brussels-City and €100 a day in Vorst. (Though if you need to use a lift in Vorst, that will cost you another €17.) The trendy Elsene – where a lot of expats live – comes in as the third most-expensive at €99.
Compare that to moving into a home in Sint-Joost, where the civil servant behind the counter will ask you for a tenner. In Ganshoren, it’s a democratic €25, while in Molenbeek, you’ll pay €40. All the other municipalities fall somewhere in-between.
Looking at the situation from both ends, you’ll pay a whopping €214 to move from Brussels-City to Vorst, but just €35 to move from Sint-Joost to Ganshoren. And get this: Watermaal-Bosvoorde charges twice as much to leave the municipality as to move into it. You’ll pay €55 to make it your home, but €110 to abandon it. Inelegant, or what?
Photo courtesy Maestro Life
