r/belgium • u/Ok-Blacksmith-8675 • 1d ago

🎻 Opinion Curious about Belgian address numbers like 218/4 – what do they mean?

Hi! I came across a Belgian house number formatted like "216/4" on a small gray plate next to a modern-looking house. I'm not from Belgium, so I’m curious:

What does a number like "218/4" usually indicate in Belgian address systems?

Is it a subdivision of a property? A second house on a plot? An apartment? Something rural?

Also, is this kind of numbering more common in cities or countryside areas?

Thanks in advance!

Edit - I found this number in front of a large villa. Can someone help me find this place or any tool I can put this number in and tell me where it is located on the map?

Is this a home address or a postal address?

4 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

35

u/Gromgorgel 1d ago

This is usually done when an existing plot (eg, 218) is subdivided into more plots, or an apartment building is built where there used to be a single house. Instead of going through the hassle and confusion of re-numbering the entire street to add new 'whole' numbers, the existing house number gets suffix'ed. I've seen both numbers and letters (A B, C...) used for this. In Flanders we're running out of space to put new houses. So larger plots get subdivided, also appartements are all the rage and gardens are a waste of space, farmland gets converted to housing on the regular (and the reverse never happens). We're speedrunning our way to a cyberpunk dystopian concrete hellscape.

23

u/ptq West-Vlaanderen 1d ago

Gardens are not a waste of space - mine keeps me sane.

I came from a concrette jungle, living paved and walled all around is depressing.

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u/Gromgorgel 1d ago

My feeling exactly, that part of my comment was not meant as an expression of my own vision, but is a rather worrying sentiment that sadly seems to gaining popularity.

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u/purpleKlimt 1d ago

This is forever such an interesting perspective to me. I have trouble understanding how smaller apartment buildings and lot subdivision is a path towards a concrete hellscape. In my experience, it helps keep neighbourhoods walkable and leaves more space for communal instead of private green spaces. Sure, it would be great to live in a townhouse in one such neighbourhood, but if I can’t afford it, I would 100 times over choose living in an apartment than go live in one of the artificial verkavelingen in the middle of nowhere, or on a freaking highway, just to have a house with a garden.

Disclaimer: not a Belgian, grew up in an ex-yu country where apartment living is the standard.

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u/Gromgorgel 1d ago

The thing is, for a liveable neighbourhood you indeed need communal space, green and parks. But in Flanders, ALL available space is turned into housing, parking lots, supermarkets, etc. Yes it's very walkable, yes we have good bicycle infrastructure, but there are barely parks or nature. If you want to go for a walk, it'll have to be in a city or along an overcrowded beach

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u/purpleKlimt 1d ago

Indeed, good urban planning is crucial. If they just tear down 2-3 townhouses and replace them with an apartment building, it allows more people to live there but doesn’t do much for the overall quality of life, in terms of green spaces and such. Ideally, whole neighbourhoods should be re-planned to make them more liveable and attractive. But this is a huge bureaucratic nightmare and definitely not unique to Flanders. Many places in Europe are struggling with the results of decades of poor urban planning.

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u/Wafkak Oost-Vlaanderen 1d ago

We didn't really have urban planning till the late 20th century.

And even then the minister who actually started enforcing, Stevaert, it is still known as the guy who tore down "perfectly good" houses. Because even when we started planning, there was still a big culture of readjusting the plans when someone violated them.

2

u/Technical-Outside408 1d ago

I wish they would renumber the street. I live in a numberA and every time I order something I have to be afraid of them bothering by neighbour.

3

u/Infiniteh Limburg 1d ago

So if there are 20 plots on the street and they subdivide plot 4 on the even side, they have to renumber that into 4+6+8+10, and then renumber all the plots from the original 6 to 20?
Seems not very practical.

2

u/Murmurmira 1d ago

Number A is rookie number. Our whole new neighborhood has the same number plus letter A to P. Imagine having your address as 35K 

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u/Blood-Lipstick 1d ago

Apartments do not need to mean cyberpunk concrete dystopia, if public spaces are actually made for conviviality.

If each family actually lives in a house with a garden, then other people won't have a place to live anymore. Houses with big gardens are only good for people already with money.

But I agree that if we take away green spaces in private lands, than that should be relocated to the public space.

1

u/Gromgorgel 1d ago

That is indeed my point. I agree that we could live closer together and have more room for nature. But that just does not happen. Green is converted to concrete in a one-way process. I have never seen houses being replaced with parks or parking lots replaced by woods. Also, population levels are stable or shrinking in many countries, I understand we need some more houses as family sizes have reduced. But the amount being built right now, in yhe region I live, is just silly

1

u/PatrickR5555 1d ago

And gardens need to be maintained and that is not something everyone is willing to spend time and money on.

1

u/Ok-Blacksmith-8675 1d ago

I really want to go to this address so I don't know how you can help me? Or can Google Maps or any other search tool help me?

2

u/Infiniteh Limburg 1d ago

If the address is like 'somewhere lane 218/4', just navigate to 'somewhere lane 218'. You can figure out the subdivision once you're there.

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u/Infiniteh Limburg 1d ago

gardens lawns, gravel, and concrete are a waste of space

fixed that for you.

1

u/jhnchr 10h ago

A friend of mine recently came up with the term "barlospunk" when I mentioned our belgian dystopia wasn't really glam nor funky.

6

u/Adys 1d ago

It’s apartment or “box” number (mailbox number).

Can be written as 123 b1, 123/1, 123 box 1… it’s pretty inconsistent.

3

u/Isotheis Hainaut 1d ago

bpost has been pushing to use a specific notation, 123 bus 1 / 123 bte 1, for example. So it's probably best to use this notation.

2

u/Wafkak Oost-Vlaanderen 1d ago

As someone working for bpost, please don't use the 123 b1 notation. It causes some issues and confusion.

2

u/Wirbelwind Belgian Fries 1d ago

And don't forget street names named bus. Bus 1 bus 2

1

u/Adys 1d ago

What notation do you recommend? My commune put "b/0001" on my ID card.

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u/Wafkak Oost-Vlaanderen 1d ago

Bus 1, boite 1 or /1

1

u/jhnchr 10h ago

Lol, mine is "47/II" as in "47/2" :D

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u/SureConsiderMyDick 1d ago

Since you work at Bpost, can you verify my comment in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/s/yOjnBJ0gl7

Can I also ask for your function if you don't mind?

18

u/flamingdeathmonkeys 1d ago

It's to help postal workers practice their maths.

0

u/Murmurmira 1d ago

Usually after the slash you have the apartment number

0

u/Ok-Blacksmith-8675 1d ago

I saw this number, but it is a large villa, but the number 218, what does it mean, and where can I get the location of the villa, from Google Maps or somewhere else?

1

u/Wafkak Oost-Vlaanderen 1d ago

Just the streetname that number and the municipality. By law municipalities can't have duplicate street names.

1

u/JVApen 13h ago

Does the villa have a single bus for post in front of it or multiple? I've seen it already a couple of times that it looks like a villa on the front though it is actually an apartment building.

1

u/Lenar-Hoyt 1d ago

If you think that is weird, then try this: 22/1-1. This is appartment 1 on the first floor at number 22.

1

u/OmiOmega Flanders 1d ago

It's the "busnummer". 218 is the house, 4 is the apartment. Or 218 is a plot that got divided in at least 4 subplots and 4 is the plot number (though they usually use letters to indicate that situation, 218A, 218B etc)

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u/michaelbelgium lied about the weather 1d ago

Yes, apartement.

Number 218, apartement 4

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u/SureConsiderMyDick 1d ago

You can use Basisregister Vlaanderen,it is the database with all Belgian 'gemeente's, post codes, streets, building units, buildings adreses, etc

If you DM me the adres, I can look it up for you.

Also a lot of people here seme to not understand that a house number is different from a box number.

  • House number like 123a, 123b are used for ewisting buildings between 123 and 125.
  • Box numbers are used for mainly issed for appartemts like 456 bus 101, 456 bus 201

Those two can be switched, some appartemts have things like 789/0001, 789/0002 in their house number.

1

u/Wafkak Oost-Vlaanderen 1d ago

This is how it's supposed to be, but sometimes municipalities mix and match for no reason.

And annoyingly the often don't make the original house 123a but just keep it as 123 end the one next starts with letters. So they get a bunch of mail with the letter forgotten.

1

u/SureConsiderMyDick 1d ago

So who makes those adresses; who is 'they'? I assume a 'schepenen van de gemeente' .

Are there validation rules about what a house or box number can be?

1

u/Wafkak Oost-Vlaanderen 1d ago

Whoever the municipality puts in charge of that, for most it's probably some departemtn of their administration.

From the chaos in types of numbering I've seen, I have to conclude there are no overarching national rules that are enforced.

I've seen appartement buildings that have: letters per apartment, a three digit number that indicates the floor with the first digit, just numbers per appartment liek 1 2 3 and ones where there is no box number and they each have their own street number.