Belgium has quietly reached a milestone that many larger markets took years to hit. For the first time, the country’s flexible office sector covers more than one million square metres. A new market study by Belgian entrepreneur Koen Batsleer, owner of consultancy FinPower and co-owner of operator Officenter, counts 591 flexible office locations nationwide. Together they offer just over 1,035,000 sqm, or 4.3% of Belgium’s total office stock of roughly 24.2 million sqm.
It’s a headline number worth celebrating. Dig a little deeper, though, and the study tells a more nuanced story: space is growing faster than revenue, profits are razor-thin, and the most interesting growth isn’t happening in Brussels at all.
Growth in square metres, pressure on price
Both the number of locations and the total floor area grew by around 8% over the past year. Turnover rose by only about 5%, to €387 million. Ten years ago the sector turned over roughly €50 million, so the long-term trajectory is impressive. The short-term gap is the warning sign.
The study attributes the difference to sharper price competition and declining revenue per square metre. In plain terms, more operators are chasing the same members, and some are cutting prices to fill desks.
That pressure shows up in the margins. Across the market, EBITDA sits at around 20% of turnover, yet operating profit is below 3%. The heavy fit-out and start-up costs of new centres drag it down. The averages also hide wide differences between operators:
- Roughly 60% of operators achieve an EBITDA margin above 20%, and close to half exceed 30%.
- About 15% are in negative territory. These are typically new or under-occupied locations still building their member base.
For operators, the lesson is familiar but sharp. A mature centre can be a very healthy business, while the first year or two of a new opening can quietly erode the profitability of the whole portfolio.
A fragmented market that is slowly professionalising
Belgium remains a patchwork. More than half of all flexible office locations are standalone sites run independently, not part of a larger group. IWG, operator of Regus and Spaces, is by far the biggest player with 56 locations and more than 121,000 sqm. Two home-grown brands follow at a distance: Silversquare (11 locations, about 53,500 sqm) and Officenter (14 locations, about 45,900 sqm).
The direction of travel is clear, though. More than 20 operators now run three or more centres, which the study reads as a sign of growing professionalisation. The research has also stopped separating business centres from coworking spaces. Both now fall under one definition: offices with a full-time receptionist or community manager. The author argues that the two models have converged since 2015. Anyone who has visited a modern business centre with a café and an events calendar, or a coworking space with private suites and a front desk, will recognise that.
New international capital is also arriving. US operator Industrious, owned by CBRE since 2025, has just opened its second Brussels location, a 1,950 sqm centre aimed at established law and finance firms. Tom Redmayne, Industrious’ head of Europe, spoke to Belgian business magazine Trends-Tendances. He said the company wants to run five sites in Brussels within five years before looking at cities such as Antwerp and Ghent.
Industrious also shared an interesting data point from a trial across ten of its sites. Instead of mandating attendance, it improved the on-site experience. As a result, the share of members coming in three or more days a week rose from 62% to 82%.
The surprise: regional cities lead the way
Perhaps the most striking finding concerns geography. Brussels has strong international demand driven by the EU institutions and NATO. Even so, its flex penetration sits at about 4%, close to the national average. Several Flemish cities are far ahead: around 12% in Geel and more than 11% in Hasselt. Most Walloon cities, meanwhile, fall below average.
The study links this spread to whether a city has strong local operators. That is an important insight. Demand for flexible offices doesn’t depend only on city size or how many companies are based there. It depends heavily on whether someone has built a good product locally. In smaller cities, a single well-run operator can effectively create the market.
For readers in the Netherlands, the parallel is obvious. Some of the most underserved demand for flexible workspace may lie in regional hubs rather than in Amsterdam’s Zuidas, provided operators get the product and pricing right.
From leases to management contracts
The study’s main theme for the year is a shift away from traditional leases towards management contracts between operators and landlords. It argues that the classic rental model has become too expensive and too risky for operators.
In a lease, the operator pays its own management costs and also carries all the occupancy risk. In a management contract, those costs and that risk are shared with the landlord. The study calculates that this can make an operator around 20% more competitive, while reducing the landlord’s net rent by only about 10%.
With revenue per square metre under pressure, that maths will appeal to many operators. Whether landlords agree to share more of the risk will determine how fast the Belgian market can keep expanding.
What this means for you
Belgium’s flex market has crossed a symbolic threshold, but it is entering a more demanding phase. Growth alone is no longer enough. Operators will be judged on occupancy, pricing discipline and the quality of the experience they offer. For occupiers, more supply and stronger competition mean more choice and more room to negotiate, especially outside Brussels.
