Beringen offers affordable rent in vacant shops to attract startups

Beringen, a city in Belgium, is tackling commercial vacancy with an innovative initiative called 'Beringse Starterspanden.' This program offers a year of affordable rent in empty storefronts to new businesses, aiming to revitalize the city's commercial core.

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With this project, we want to better match supply and demand. Starters get the chance to realize their dreams and owners have a temporary solution for their properties.

Under the scheme, landlords who agree to participate will be exempt from vacancy taxes for a full year. This incentive is designed to encourage property owners to make their vacant spaces available to entrepreneurs. For the new businesses, rent will be set between 400 and 800 euros per month, depending on the property's size. This significantly lowers the initial investment barrier for startups.

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So starting entrepreneurs can start without having to make very large investments right away.

Mayor Thomas Vints explained that the project seeks to better align demand and supply, giving starters the opportunity to pursue their business dreams. "Owners have a temporary solution for their properties," he stated. Alderman for Local Economy Ornella Schreurs highlighted the initiative as a win-win situation, supporting local entrepreneurs and providing a solution for landlords facing vacancy taxes, which she described as potentially "quite hefty."

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This way we really support local entrepreneurs. It's also nice for landlords that their properties are no longer vacant.

The agreements for these starter spaces will range from six months to a maximum of one year. Schreurs believes this approach offers a "very beautiful solution" to the problem of empty commercial buildings, fostering a more vibrant local economy.

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Those vacancy taxes can be quite hefty. Then this seems like a very beautiful solution.