Yet there is another side to Brussels: street after street of splendid art nouveau and art deco houses with high ceilings and imposing marble-clad entrances; property prices still way below levels in Paris and certainly in London; and tens of thousands of EU officials, diplomats, lobbyists and assorted hangers-on looking to rent their own small corner of the self-styled capital of Europe.

“Brussels has become the little Washington DC of Europe. In fact, there are even more embassies here than in Washington,” says Patrick Menache, head of Macnash Associates, a Brussels-based estate agency.

None of this, of course, has gone unnoticed either by the Belgians or by foreign investors. Since 1997, Brussels has seen a boom that has sent prices roaring ahead. According to Stadim, an independent organisation that monitors the country’s property market, a flat that cost £100,000 in 2000 would be worth just over £150,000 today.

This means that, by Belgian standards, property is already looking rather expensive. Although further annual double-digit rises are unlikely, so, too, is a crash, which means you should be able to get a good deal if you choose carefully. Thanks to the linguistic skills of the Bruxellois (most of whom are at least trilingual), you should also be able to conduct negotiations in English, too.

So where to start? The curious thing about Brussels is that the central part of town around the Grand Place, the splendid medieval market square, is not the place to be — with the exception of a few streets around the Sablon, another smaller square known for its antique market.

The Eurocrowd who are your main potential clients want to be out east instead. Most EU institutions and the various other organisations that work with them are in the so-called Quartier Européen around the Schuman metro station. The converted flats in three- and four-storey houses here and in the nearby Etterbeek district are popular with twentysomethings taking their first steps onto the Euro gravy train. It should be possible to pick up a 90sq m flat for about €200,000 ( £135,000).

Those with more money to spend and families to accommodate gravitate further east to houses in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert or Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, or some of the more upmarket streets in Ixelles. Many British families will make for the eastern suburb of Tervuren, site of the British school. The French, by contrast, will want to be near their school, in Uccle, to the southwest.

The yields will not be spectacular: count on earning about 4%-5% — roughly the same as it will cost you to borrow. Rental contracts can run as long as nine years, and although it can be difficult to get rid of your tenants, much of the onus on maintaining the property lies with them. You will get a better yield on furnished flats, which is what many younger tenants want, but expect more voids.

The tax situation is also favourable: rather than being liable for Belgian tax on your rental income, you instead pay a flat annual tax known as the précompte immobilier. In theory, it is calculated on the property’s rateable value, but in most cases this has not kept up with property-price inflation. Check with an accountant on your liability to the Inland Revenue, too.

If you are looking for capital gains — and who isn’t? — you should look beyond the established areas and consider something a little edgier. Menache suggests St Josse, a relatively run-down district northwest of the EU buildings, or St Gilles, another up-and-coming area near the Gare du Midi, the Eurostar terminus. If you fancy playing the role of mini property developer, it should be possible to buy a relatively big house for £300,000, which you could divide into two or three parts and rent out.

The really intrepid might consider moving even further out towards the traditional working-class areas of Jette and Anderlecht in the northwest, although you would probably then be letting to local people rather than Eurocrats.

John Harrington, 35, who works for the EU, chose a relatively run-down part of Ixelles when he bought three years ago. The four-storey, four-bed house cost him £115,000, but he spent another £54,000 on renovation and other costs. He now rents it out to four French students for £880 a month, and reckons if he sold today he would get just over £200,000.

Anybody buying now should take their time and choose their area carefully, he says. “It’s a bit like London in 1997. You haven’t missed the boat, but you are stepping on the back of it.”

Harrington warns that Brussels is not the place to make money fast, not least because of the considerable transaction costs. Stamp duty is 12.5% and the notary takes another few percentage points. Although 60% of the stamp duty is refunded if you sell within two years, it can all put a dampener on those trying to make a quick buck.

If you are looking for adventure — and risk — head for Bulgaria, Dubai or Croatia. But if you want a relatively secure medium- to long-term earner, then leave those preconceptions behind at the Eurostar terminal and take a look at the much maligned capital of Europe.

• Macnash Associates, 00 32 23 471 147, www.macnash.com
• Read Peter Conradi’s overseas property weblog at www.timesonline.co.uk/overseasproperty

  On the market

  A one-bedroom, 90sq m flat with a roof terrace in the Etterbeek district, is on the market for £135,000 through Housing Service IGC, 00 32 27 329 920, www.housing-service.be

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