Renting in Belgium: the deposit in your name, the inventory report and the nine-year contract

Yes, as a Dutch citizen you rent in Belgium like anyone else, and in Flanders almost everything you need to know is in one text: the Flemish Residential Lease Decree. What it costs is a deposit of at most three months' rent plus the first month, and that deposit does not go to the landlord but into an individualised account in your name. The find at the source is the notice rule: as a tenant you can give notice at any time with three months, but if you leave in the first three years you pay the landlord compensation of three, two or one month's rent, depending on the year. The trap is in the first month: the inventory report has to be drawn up by then, and without it the condition of the home on departure is your problem. Brussels and Wallonia each have their own rental rules; this article follows the Flemish decree.

How does the deposit work?

The deposit may not exceed three months' rent, and you choose the form: an individualised account at a bank in your name, a real security at a bank in your name, or a bank guarantee through a standard contract between the public welfare centre (OCMW) and a bank. Only with the landlord's consent can a third party stand surety. If the landlord keeps the money himself, he owes you interest at the average market rate, capitalised, and you may treat the amount plus interest as rent. The money is only released with a written agreement of both parties, drawn up at the earliest at the end of the tenancy, or with a court decision.

What has to happen in the first month?

Two things, both with a clock. The inventory report is compulsory, drawn up jointly and at shared cost, while the home is still empty or during the first month you have it at your disposal; it is attached to the contract and registered. If you cannot agree, the court appoints an expert, provided the request is filed before the end of that month. The registration of the lease and the inventory report is the landlord's duty, and the costs of a late registration are entirely his. What matters to you is the sanction: as long as the contract is not registered after the legal term of two months, the tenant's notice period and compensation do not apply, and you can leave on the first day of the month after your notice.

In addition you report your new address to the municipality within eight working days, and it comes to check within fifteen days; how that check fits into the residence procedure is in settling in Belgium.

Which deadlines and amounts count?

Item	Rule in the Flemish Residential Lease Decree
Deposit	at most 3 months' rent, in an account in the tenant's name
Inventory report	compulsory, while the home is empty or in the first month of the tenancy
Registration of contract and inventory report	landlord's duty; legal term 2 months
Standard term	9 years; the landlord ends it with 6 months' notice, otherwise extended by 3 years each time
Notice by the tenant	always possible, 3 months
Compensation on leaving in year 1, 2 or 3	3, 2 or 1 month's rent
Notice by the landlord for own use	6 months, in the first 3 years not before the end of that period
Short-term contract	at most 3 years, extendable once within those 3 years; notice 3 months before the end
Fire and water damage	tenant and landlord both compulsorily insured
Reporting a change of address to the municipality	within 8 working days

Nine years, or short after all?

Every contract is deemed to have been concluded for nine years. That sounds heavy, but it mainly protects you: the landlord can only give notice for own use by himself or close family, for major renovation works, or without a reason at the end of the first and second three-year period, each time with six months' notice and in the last case with compensation. A short-term contract is also possible: in writing, for at most three years, extendable once without the total exceeding three years. If such a contract is not terminated three months before the end, or you keep living there without objection, it becomes by operation of law a nine-year contract from the original start date. For whoever wants to try living somewhere for a year first, the short term is the logical choice, and the three months' notice applies there just the same.

Never pay the deposit in cash to the landlord. The decree knows three forms, and none of them is an envelope. Whoever pays cash anyway is entitled to interest and may treat the amount as rent, but that is an argument after the fact; an account in your name prevents it.

What else do you arrange around the contract?

The landlord must attach a plain-language explanation to the contract covering among other things registration, the inventory report, indexation and the fire insurance obligation; read that annex, it is the short version of the decree. Take out the insurance for fire and water damage yourself, because it is compulsory for the tenant, and ask the landlord for his. Whoever thinks about buying after a year of renting reads how buying in Belgium works. Where renting falls in the journey is in the step-by-step plan for Belgium.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Belgium or go straight to step 3.4 in the open plan.