In Auderghem, 89 per cent of burglaries in buildings target homes — the most lopsided proportion there is. In 2025, the municipality recorded 228 residential burglaries, or 4.4 per week. The good news is that they are falling. The bad news is that the two schemes meant to help residents — the municipal subsidy and the legal framework — are the ones most often misunderstood, with immediate financial consequences.
A twenty-five-year plateau, and a decline that is only just beginning
The figures recorded by the federal police in Auderghem tell a story of stability rather than crisis: 279 residential burglaries in 2000, 281 in 2015, 277 in 2019 — three readings fifteen years apart, and virtually the same level.
The recent detail clarifies the trend: 277 in 2019, a low of 207 in 2020, 253 in 2021, then a peak of 306 in 2022 — the highest in the series. Then 242 in 2023, a rebound to 261 in 2024, and 228 in 2025. The decline is real — −12.6 per cent year-on-year, −17.7 per cent since 2019 — but it is recent, and 2024 has already shown that it can be interrupted.
The figure that really shapes decisions lies elsewhere: of the 256 burglaries in buildings recorded in Auderghem in 2025, 89 per cent involved homes. Here, burglary is not a problem for shops or offices, but for houses and flats.
In Auderghem, the risk lies behind the house
The built environment in Auderghem is predominantly residential: single-family houses with gardens, low-rise blocks, and deep plots that often open onto the interior of a block. This layout shifts the point of entry.
The front door is rarely the weak link: being visible and well lit, a break-in there gets noticed. The weak link is the rear — the living room French windows, the bay window, the conservatory, the kitchen door onto the garden. These access points share three characteristics that account for most break-ins: they are glazed, they are out of sight from the street, and the hedge enclosing the garden protects the intruder just as much as the occupant.
The consequence is counter-intuitive: an alarm with all its detectors indoors is one step behind, since it detects a presence in the living room once the glass has already been breached. What matches the local risk is outdoor detection, aimed at the garden area serving these access points, complemented by photo-verification detectors able to tell you remotely whether something is really happening.
The Auderghem municipal subsidy: three conditions that make applications fail
Auderghem grants a subsidy for securing homes. It works on two levels: 50 per cent of the amount invested, up to a maximum of €100 per home per year, a ceiling that can be raised to €400 subject to income conditions. Details are given on the theft prevention page of the municipality of Auderghem.
Three conditions determine the outcome of the application, and these are what cause applicants to lose the subsidy:
- A prior visit by the theft prevention adviser is mandatory. Prior means before the work. Window frames already replaced at the time of the application do not make up for a visit that never took place.
- Only intrusion-delaying façade elements are eligible. The subsidy funds what physically resists: reinforced locks and cylinders, burglar-resistant glazing, resistant doors and window frames.
- The application must be submitted before 30 November. This is a budget-year deadline, not a rolling one: work completed in December falls under the following year.
And the point that no commercial website states clearly: this subsidy does not cover alarm systems, and it does not cover surveillance cameras. Detection electronics fall outside the scope of the regulation, which targets façade elements. Nobody will reimburse half the cost of an alarm in Auderghem: plan your budget accordingly.
This is not an inconsistency: the municipality subsidises what delays an intrusion, because time is what discourages intruders. The alarm, on the other hand, signals. The order of the work follows that of the subsidy, incidentally.
Alarm: five obligations, and the mistakes that cost dearly
Once the equipment has been installed, Belgian law imposes a precise regime. It is federal — identical in Auderghem, Namur and Antwerp — and stems from the Royal Decree of 25 April 2007.
Registration is done within ten days via police-on-web and must be confirmed every year: this is the most common oversight, the first step being taken seriously and the second falling by the wayside. The outdoor siren is limited to three minutes. Annual maintenance is required. Finally, alarm verification is mandatory: an alarm that goes off does not, on its own, trigger a call-out by the police zone.
This last rule has a practical consequence: a system unable to provide an image or verifiable information produces alerts on which no one can act. This is the technical, not commercial, reason for relying on visual verification. The full procedure is described in our guide on the registration of an alarm system in Belgium.
Camera: in Auderghem, framing is the real issue
Four obligations: registration on declarationcamera.be, a regulatory pictogram visible at the entrance to the filmed area, a data processing register, and framing limited to your property — neither the public road nor your neighbour’s land.
In a municipality of semi-detached houses with adjoining gardens, this last constraint is anything but theoretical. A camera mounted on the rear façade to cover a terrace will almost inevitably capture part of the neighbouring garden if it is placed too high or is too wide-angle. The correct set-up involves a moderate height, a lens pointing downwards and, if necessary, software masking: CCTV cameras with privacy zones handle the matter cleanly. Our articles on the law on CCTV cameras in Belgium and the choice between alarm and camera set out the trade-offs.
The theft prevention adviser: mandatory here, and free
Auderghem falls under the Uccle / Watermael-Boitsfort / Auderghem police zone (5342). Its theft prevention adviser visits your home, examines the actual access points and provides written advice, free of charge and with nothing to sell.
Here, this step is not merely recommended: it is the gateway to the subsidy application. Given the waiting time for an appointment and the 30 November deadline, a security project should be launched in spring, not in autumn. For detection, a control panel with no compulsory subscription and an outdoor siren complying with the three-minute limit form the basis; alarm kits cover simple configurations.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many burglaries were there in Auderghem in 2025?
228 residential burglaries were recorded in Auderghem in 2025, according to the Federal Police’s crime statistics. This is 12.6 per cent fewer than in 2024 (261 incidents) and 17.7 per cent fewer than in 2019 (277 incidents), an average of 4.4 incidents per week.
Does the Auderghem municipal subsidy cover an alarm or a camera?
No. The Auderghem subsidy only funds intrusion-delaying façade elements: reinforced locks and cylinders, burglar-resistant glazing, resistant doors and window frames. Alarm systems and surveillance cameras are not covered. It amounts to 50 per cent of the sum invested, up to a maximum of €100 per home per year, a ceiling raised to €400 subject to income conditions.
What conditions must be met to obtain the subsidy in Auderghem?
Three conditions are decisive: a prior visit by the theft prevention adviser is mandatory and must precede the work, only intrusion-delaying façade elements are eligible, and the application must be submitted before 30 November. An application after that date falls under the following year.
Do you have to register an alarm in Auderghem, and how often?
Registration is done via police-on-web within ten days of installation, and must then be confirmed every year. The outdoor siren is limited to three minutes, annual maintenance is required and alarm verification is mandatory before any police intervention. These rules stem from the Royal Decree of 25 April 2007 and apply throughout Belgium.
Can my camera film my neighbour’s garden in Auderghem?
No. A private surveillance camera must be limited to your own property and may not film the public road or other people’s land. In a neighbourhood of adjoining gardens, this requires a moderate mounting height, a downward-facing view and, if necessary, masking of prohibited areas.
Sources: Police crime statistics, Federal Police DGR/DRI/BIPOL, publication 2025_T04 (cut-off date 24/04/2026) — Auderghem municipal fact sheet. Subsidy regulation: theft prevention page of the municipality of Auderghem. Subsidy amounts and conditions change from one financial year to the next: check with the municipality before incurring any costs.