Renting a home in Belgium can be tricky. Use our updated guide to avoid the pitfalls.

• Estate agents

  A longer lease might be the best option

Once you have found the property you want to rent, you need a lease (bail or kontract), an inventory (etat des lieux or plaatsbeschrijving), a security deposit, and to get the phone, electricity and gas reconnected.

There is an element of Catch 22 here - there is a certain order to get things done in, that at times seems to be mutually exclusive.

The lease

Belgian has an odd system of a standard nine-year flexible lease, and an inflexible three-year lease. At first sight the three-year lease seems the most attractive to a newcomer whose time in the country is uncertain, but this is not necessarily the case.

Negotiate rent, not service charges

It is thus better to opt for a nine-year lease, which can in fact be broken by giving three months notice. But if you leave in the first, second or third year, you will pay an indemnity of three, two and one month's rent respectively.

From year four, there is no penalty for leaving. The monthly rent is fixed for nine years subject to the normal state-controlled annual indexation. The landlord can only give you notice if they intend to occupy the property personally, need to carry out major works (where major has a legal definition), or at the end of  year 3 or year 6, for no reason but subject to compensation to the tenant of nine or six month's rent respectively.

For an apartment, the monthly outgoing may include an element of rent and a fixed amount of service charge. Usually the service charge is just a prepayment (provision pour charges or vooruitbetaling) and there will be an annual assessment of common charges for the property that you will share in.

If you want to negotiate a better price, negotiate down the rental not the service charges. If there are things you want the landlord to correct before you move in, either specify them in the lease contract so legally binding the landlord or, if you can wait, don't sign the lease until they have happened!

The inventory

The inventory (etat des lieux or plaatsbeschrijvin) is the source of more misery to tenants than any other legal document. Typically, the landlord's agent prepares a detailed list of the condition of the property complete with photographs which the tenant signs. At the end of the lease, the landlord's agent checks the property against this inventory. 

Be aware that tenants can be charged for scratches in the bath that were there before they arrived, simply because they didn't notice the damage when signing the original inventory.

It is bad enough to have someone who seems to be less than independent assessing costs against you; even more irritating is that you have to pay 50 percent of his bill. Some agents insist you sign a document agreeing to the fee and to accept his expertise before he starts.

Don't do so. The way to avoid all such problems is simple. Refuse to accept the landlord's agent and select your own agent (expert immobilier or expert) to do the check-in and the check-out. That way both parties get an independent and fair assessment.

The security deposit

You will be asked to put up one to three months rent as a security deposit (three months is the legal norm) against tenant-effected damages.  The best way to do this is to ask your bank for a guarantee.

This is basically a low-cost insurance policy sold to you by the bank which gets your salary as its means of security. Alternatively, you can open a blocked deposit account which needs the signatures of both tenant and landlord for any withdrawal.  Never pay the security deposit in cash, it's far too risky.

Other responsibilities

It is the tenant's responsibility to insure the property not only for what it contains, but also for fire.  Plus, you should arrange to have chimneys cleaned and boilers serviced annually.  If the property has a private garden it is the tenant's responsibility to maintain it (communal garden costs are usually included in a service charge).

The following agencies (agence immobiliers or makelaar) typically deal in both sale and rental. For additional addresses see www.immoweb.be

Antwerp

Antwerp City Real Estate
03 232 8515
www.acrea.com

Belimmo
03 238 0357
www.belimmo.be

Carl Martens
03 226 8500
www.carlmartens.be

Engetrim – Trevi
03 218 6304
www.engetrim.be

Sidimex
03 203 0202
www.sidimex.be

Brussels

Century 21
02 513 1996
www.century21.be

Globali Property Management
02 775 0850
www.globali.be

Eurema
02 736 3030
www.eurema.be

Eurorent
02 646 2686
www.eurorent.com

Eurohouse
02 672 0555
www.eurohouse.be  

Housing Service
02 732 9920
www.housing-service.be

Macnash Associates
02 347 1147
www.macnash.com

NOA real estate
02 344.44.22
http://www.noa-realestate.be

Toby
02 219 2323
www.bureau-toby.com 

Trevi
02 343 2240
www.trevi.be

Ghent

Century 21
09 233 6320
www.century21.be

Era Vastgoed Ryckaert
09 223 1177
www.era.be

Nelde
09 233 1347
www.nelde.be

Liège

Century 21
04 223 3825
www.century21.be

Immo 42
04 371 9971
www.immo42.be

Optimum – Trevi
04 221 4875
www.optimum.be  

September 2005 (Updated October 2006)

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Living in Belgium