Dear Expatica,
 
I am thinking of moving to Antwerp from London. How can I find a flat to rent in a good part of Antwerp and how much should I be prepared to pay?

I am single but have two children who will visit occasionally. I would like to live in a great, buzzing district and would like all mod cons. A 2 –bedroom, furnished accommodation would be fine.
 
Can you help? I can't seem to find any estate agents to talk to.

Kind Regards
 
Miss M Backlund
________________________ 

Dear Miss Backlund,

In terms of rental accommodation, there are many estate agents; I've listed at the end of this reply. Most of the websites are in Dutch but, if you are 'zoeken' for a 'woning te huur' you can probably find out what you need.

Given your requirements, I would concentrate on the district called 'Het Zuid', a triangle bordered by the Waalse Kaai, the Vlaamse Kaai and Leopold de Waalplaats. It is trendy, buzzing district as well as being central. A visit to the Het Zuid website at www.zuid.be will help give you some sense of what this district is about.  

A 2-bedroom apartment would cost between EUR 1000 and 1500. Location, size, level of renovation, will all determine at which end of the price range it falls. Extras such as a garage, terrace or lift will also influence the price. This price range is for unfurnished accommodation, which is more plentiful than furnished.

You would need to add about 25 percent onto the rental price for a furnished flat, but your choice of properties will be much more limited. A better option is to look at unfurnished places for which you can rent furniture for the duration of your stay.

This is often the more cost-effective solution and you will end up with a better quality home. There are some excellent furniture rental companies in Belgium such as Interior Rent (www.interiorrent.com) or In-Lease (www.in-lease.com).

Grote Markt, Antwerp

The standard lease that is encoded in the Belgian law is a 9-year lease with an early termination clause. The tenant will always need to give three months notice of their early departure. 

In addition, if the lease is terminated in the first, second or third year, there is a penalty equal to three times, two times or one time the monthly rent respectively.

From the fourth year onwards the tenant only needs to give three months notice and there is no penalty.  In a 9-year lease a landlord may reclaim their property for themselves or an immediate family member by giving the tenant six month's notice. 

The rent may be indexed during the 9-year period by an indexation formula stipulated in the contract.

There are also leases for three years and one year, but these are not protected by law. Properties with short leases are much rarer.

The 3-year lease resembles the 9-year lease in everything except that the landlord cannot re-posses the property during the three years. At the end of the 3-year lease, if no notice is given by either party, then it rolls into the fourth year of a 9-year lease. 

However, the landlord has the right to terminate the lease after the three years are up, or they may choose to increase the rent.  As most properties in Belgium are for investment purposes, the risk of the landlord re-possessing the property is relatively low.  We therefore recommend the 9-year lease. 

One-year leases are usually for furnished properties.  It is rare that the landlord of an unfurnished property will accept a 1-year lease.   In 1-year leases it is often difficult to get an early termination clause as this is the landlord's decision on whether or not he wants to agree to it.

This means, if the tenant wants to leave the property for whatever reason (transfer, family size increasing, etc) then the remaining months of the lease need to be paid out. We advise our clients NOT to sign a lease without an early termination clause.

In Belgium a security deposit equal to three month's rent is required on all properties.  This deposit can be made in two ways:

• Blocked account equivalent to three month's rent at the bank in both the tenant's and landlord's name/signature.  It will only be released upon departure and after all monies owed to the landlord have been paid.  It earns interest for the tenant.

• Bank Guarantee: a bank may be willing to issue a letter of guarantee for the amount of the security.  The landlord receives a guarantee letter from the bank.  The tenant pays a one-off set-up fee then an annual fee equal to 2-3 percent of the amount of the security.  It will only be released upon departure and after all monies owed to the landlord have been paid.  The landlord needs to return the guarantee letter to the bank.

Recently the government has announced that the guarantee deposit will be reduced from three to two month's rent if it is paid up front. It will also be possible to deposit the guarantee in instalments; in this case the full three month's will be required. The law has not yet come into force.

Similarly, the Fair Rent movement, allowing tenants to appeal to an Ombudsman, if they feel their rent is too high, has not yet come into force. Both of these political decisions are helping to redress the lease law, which currently favours the landlord more than the tenant.

Let me add that Antwerp is a great city to live in, and moving there from London is a big change but definitely not for the worse. The quality of life is surprisingly good, especially if you are coming with British currency, and the city is rich in culture, the arts, fashion and, of course, diamonds.

More than anything, the spirit of the city is noticeably present and you will find the 'Antwerpenaars' forthright and open-minded. Their culture is closer to their Dutch neighbours to the North than it is to the culture of Brussels. Therefore it isn't a surprise that the Dutch are frequent visitors to this historical 'city of traders'.

Estate agents in Antwerp

IMFICO
www.imfico.be
 
De Boer & Partners
www.deboerenpartners.be
 
Amber Vastgoed
www.ambervastgoed.be
 
De Meester
www.demeester-vastgoed.be
 
Markgrave Vastgoed
www.markgrave.be 


For what to do and where to go in Antwerp check out:

Regards,

Kay Hall
Map Relocations

Updated April 2008

[Copyright Expatica 2006]

Subject: Moving to Belgium