Moving to Belgium: Regional Rules on Low-Emission Zones, Permits and Car Tax
Moving to Belgium means dealing with three regions that do not agree: Brussels is one zone from edge to edge, Flanders has two, and Wallonia dropped its region-wide one. This page sets out what the official pages say, with the dates we read them.
A few short questions. Nothing is sent until you check and confirm.
Which regional rules matter when moving to Belgium?
Belgium is split into Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region, and each region sets its own rules where a household move meets the state: which vehicles may enter a low-emission zone, who collects the one-off tax on a car put on Belgian plates, and, in Brussels, the first step of a street permit. Councils then add their own permit rules for the moving vehicle.
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Everything below comes from regional and municipal sites that we opened on 31 October 2026. Zone criteria and fees change, and most of these pages show no update date, so use the page as a set of questions for your moving company and not as legal advice. Customs has its own page, customs and transfer of residence in Belgium.
What does the Brussels low-emission zone require?
The Brussels zone site (opens in a new window) says the zone is the whole region, 19 municipalities, active every day around the clock, with the Ring excluded. Cars, vans and (mini)buses registered in Belgium or abroad are concerned, and the page’s access criteria extend to lorries: diesel needs at least Euro 6, and petrol, CNG or LPG at least Euro 3.
The page announces that since 1 January 2026 Euro 5 diesel and Euro 2 petrol no longer qualify. For those, a first offence brings a warning letter, and a fine of 350 euros may follow from three months after it. A day pass costs 35 euros, up to 24 a year per vehicle, and some vehicle types can ask for an exemption.
For vehicles on foreign plates, the site’s registration page (opens in a new window) says registration is required, except for Dutch plates, free and valid for five years. You can register before entering or within five days of entering, and you need the vehicle registration certificate. A Dutch-plated vehicle registers only if it fails the criteria.
What applies in Flanders, in Antwerp and Ghent?
The Flemish government’s zone page (opens in a new window) says Flanders has two low-emission zones, one in Antwerp and one in Ghent, that the conditions differ between them, and that a fine can follow entry with an unauthorised vehicle. Ghent’s conditions were readable; for Antwerp, see our Antwerp guide.
Ghent’s entry-conditions page (opens in a new window) covers diesel, petrol, LPG, CNG and LNG vans and lorries up to the heaviest class as well as cars. Its 2026 table gives free access to diesel at Euro 5 or 6 and to petrol from Euro 2, access after payment to Euro 4 diesel, and a day pass for older vehicles. Foreign number plates must always register.
The same page says the Flemish government chose not to tighten the zone in 2026 and will assess air quality in 2027 before deciding again. So a Euro 5 diesel van that Brussels now refuses still has free access in Ghent. Antwerp’s own criteria, registration steps and fines are not stated here, because the city’s site blocked our request.
Does Wallonia have a low-emission zone?
None was found in the sources we read. A Walloon environment news item (opens in a new window), published 29 April 2024 and updated 19 August 2025, reports that the Walloon Parliament voted on 26 April 2024 to cancel a zone covering the whole region.
The item adds that towns and communes may still create a zone on their own territory, and that when it was updated no Walloon town or commune had done so. It names Liège, Charleroi, Namur and Mons as places where studies found a zone could work. We found no later official source either way, so we do not say that none exists today.
Practically, a Walloon address is a question for the commune. Ask your moving company whether it has checked the commune’s website for a zone or a street-permit rule on your moving date.
Six Walloon cities have a guide of their own: Liège, Charleroi and Namur, and in Hainaut Mons, La Louvière and Tournai, with Seraing beside Liège. For the rest we read no zone or permit rule: Verviers and Eupen (in the German-speaking Community) in Liège province, and Arlon in Luxembourg province. The Walloon news item above is the only source we hold for them.
Which region is stricter for an older van or lorry?
Of the zones we could read, Brussels is the strictest: a Euro 5 diesel vehicle is out of the zone there from 1 January 2026, while Ghent keeps it in until the 2027 review. A vehicle that clears Euro 6 diesel meets the Brussels criterion and the Ghent table alike, so the date of first registration matters more than the region.
- Brussels.
Whole region, every hour, foreign plates register free, a day pass at 35 euros.
- Flanders.
Two cities only. Ghent’s conditions are readable; Antwerp’s own are not yet.
- Wallonia.
No zone found in the sources read, and communes may create one.
How do permits for the moving vehicle work in Belgium?
The permit comes from the town, not the region, with one regional exception. Across the councils we read, the pattern is the same: an occupation permit for the pavement, parking spaces or carriageway, a notice period that is often longer when traffic is hindered, usually a fee that rises with time or area, and no-parking signs that either the town supplies or you place yourself.
Brussels adds a first step. The City of Brussels sign-rental page (opens in a new window) says renting its signs does not reserve a space: you first need a road-occupation authorisation from the regional Osiris platform, then request the signs at least ten working days before they go up. That page covers addresses inside the City of Brussels only.
In Ghent, the city permit page (opens in a new window) asks for the request fifteen days ahead for a truck in the parking lane and twenty-six days if it stands outside it. It adds that tax applies to moves over one day from 2027, and that for occupations starting after 1 January 2027 the city sets out the no-parking signs itself.
No Walloon permit rule is stated, because we did not locate a readable commune page. Give your moving company the exact address early, since it is the commune, and in Brussels the region too, that decides the deadline.
How much does the same permit vary between Flemish towns?
Eight Flemish towns have a guide of their own, and between them the permit for a moving van at the kerb varies from nothing to a fee for each unit and day. Each guide rests on the town's own page, opened on 3 November 2026.
- Aalst: free of charge for one day, asked seven calendar days ahead.
- Mechelen: a fee that follows the length of stay plus a rate by area.
- Hasselt: a price that follows the ring road.
- Kortrijk: a fee per unit of ten square metres, with signs lent free.
- Sint-Niklaas: the loan of the signs is included for private people.
- Genk: a regulation in force since 1 May 2026.
- Lokeren: a deposit on each sign and no rent.
- Oostende: signs placed by the city for a fee.
Flanders has more towns we read nothing for: Roeselare in West Flanders, whose website would not open for us, Turnhout in Antwerp province and Tongeren in Limburg. Their town halls set their own rules, so ask for the page of the town where the lorry will stand.
How does Belgian car tax differ by region?
Each region taxes a car once when it is first registered in Belgium, and the three do it differently. In each, the bill follows registration with the national vehicle registration service (DIV), so the tax comes after registration and not before it.
Flanders. The Flemish page (opens in a new window) calls it a one-time tax every owner of a new or second-hand vehicle pays when it is first used on Belgian public roads. A tax sheet from the Flemish Tax Service arrives after DIV registration, with two months to pay, and the amount reflects environmental impact and age from first registration.
Wallonia. The Walloon mobility page (opens in a new window) (updated 27 May 2026) says the tax is due only once, at registration or first use on the road, on new and used cars. For registrations since 1 July 2025 it uses engine power, CO2, maximum mass and fuel, and the invitation to pay comes at the end of the month after registration. The finance portal (opens in a new window) keeps the amount between 50 and 9,000 euros.
Brussels. The Brussels tax page (opens in a new window) calls it the tax on entry into service, due when a new or used road vehicle is put into service. Brussels Fiscality sends the bill from DIV data and asks for a declaration only for specific vehicles such as trucks, tractors and buses. A separate annual road tax applies to Brussels owners.
We did not read how any of the three treats a car first registered abroad or a household arriving from abroad, so this page states no exemption and no age rule. Ask the moving company, or the tax service of the region where you will register, before you buy transport for a car. Our guide to shipping a car abroad covers the transport side.
What should you ask your moving company?
Put these four questions to the moving company when the quotation arrives and keep the replies in writing. The answers depend on the street, the commune and the date, so give the full Belgian address and a firm date at the start.
- Zone.
Is the address inside the Brussels, Ghent or Antwerp zone, and has the vehicle’s Euro class been checked against it?
- Plates.
If the vehicle is registered abroad, who registers it for the zone and by when?
- Permit.
Who applies to the commune for the street occupation, how many days ahead, and who places the no-parking signs?
- Car.
If a car is coming, which region’s tax applies and who tells you when the bill arrives?
For the route itself, see removals from the UK to Belgium.
What we could not read
Antwerp’s city pages on moving and on its zone returned an access error, and the page of the Antwerp zone site that we reached held no text, so this guide states nothing about Antwerp beyond the Flemish government’s line. The Antwerp guide reports the city’s parking-sign regulation, which ended on 31 December 2025. We did not locate a Walloon commune permit page, the Brussels fine and day-pass sub-pages, or any statement on how the three tax pages treat a car first registered abroad.
Questions about Belgium’s regional moving rules
Is there one low-emission zone for the whole of Belgium?
No.
Brussels is a zone in itself, Flanders has zones in Antwerp and Ghent, and in the Walloon sources we read we found none. The criteria differ from place to place.
Can a Euro 5 diesel van enter Brussels?
Not without a day pass or an exemption.
The Brussels zone site says Euro 5 diesel stopped meeting the criteria on 1 January 2026, and a day pass is 35 euros. Ghent’s page keeps Euro 5 diesel in for 2026.
Do I need to register a foreign-plated vehicle for a zone?
In Brussels, yes, except for Dutch plates, and registration is free for five years.
Ghent’s page says foreign plates must always register. Ask the moving company who handles it.
Do I need a permit for the moving truck in Belgium?
The towns we read, including Mechelen, Aalst, Hasselt, Kortrijk and Ghent, ask for one when the vehicle stands on the pavement, a parking space or the road.
Notice runs from three working days to thirty.
Is the tax on registering a car the same in every region?
No.
Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels each collect their own one-off tax after DIV registration, on their own rules and rates. We did not read how a car first registered abroad is treated.
Tell us about your move to Belgium
Send the UK postcode you move from, the Belgian commune you move to and the dates you can manage. If you know the street, add it, because the zone and the permit deadline depend on the address.
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