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Renting in Belgium: Everything You Need to Know

Renting in Belgium: Everything You Need to Know

21 Jan 2021


The basic concept of renting is quite appreciable for daily living purposes. It enhances the usefulness of things in many ways. You are the kind of person who is mostly staying in different places.

Renting is the best choice for you. All you need to know is the right parameter that you need to ensure before renting any item or even a property. 

Is moving to Belgium the Right Decision?

After you have decided to move to any country, it is better to think about the living plan earlier. In that way, you will determine the better option for you. Whether that is buying a property in Belgium or renting out?

According to Belgium's research report in 2017, renting in Belgium is lower than anywhere worldwide. Furthermore, the house prices in Belgium have been dropped by up to 0.5%. 

Overview

Belgium is considered a region of ex-pats who travelled away from their countries. Most of them go for ownership of the property with mortgages, some with the option to rent privately others, with renting at a subsidized rate. 

According to research analytics, 40.3% of the Belgian population live partially detached housing. This results in becoming the fourth largest for hosting such individuals globally. 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (COED) reported that 33% of the Belgium population consists of property owners with outstanding mortgages.

Normally this option is for the candidates with shorter tenure in Belgium. But this option is more feasible for the ex-pats who do not want to deal with the foreign market of property anymore. 

Belgium Housing Market

In Belgium, housing prices are considered far lower than the housing market of all Europe combined altogether. Simultaneously, housing markets in Ireland and the United Kingdom are far expensive than the average price in Belgium. 

Despite the above-discussed fact, prices in Belgium is increasing with a rise over the last couple of years. In the third quarter of 2018, there has been a distinctive increase in property prices by 2.6%.

However, the prices have been increasing slowly compared to 2009 and 2017 by just 29%. There is a total of 60% renters in the country. A percentage of 30% of housing stock has been accounted for by the rented properties. 

Rules and Regulations in Belgium

There exists no specific restriction on the purchase of properties in Belgium. It does not matter even if you are a resident or not. In case you want to rent out a property. 

All you need to do is validate your identity and proof of authorized residence by the government, often known as a visa. It is also one of the requirements to give proper evidence of your being completely financially available to pay for the rents. 

Belgium is also known to provide social housing to many single people and families with low-income rates. You can apply for social housing by reaching out to the social housing association. 

Rental Laws for Belgium

Belgium possesses strong tenant rights, which puts tenants on the landlord's safe side. The landlord cannot evict the tenant without a proper valid reason.

It is a rule that a period of six months’ prior notice must be given to the landlord's tenant. The reasons in which the landlord can ask for an eviction notice are:

  1. The renters intend to occupy the property by themselves.
  2. If they are letting any family member or friend living along with them.
  3. In a situation where renters may want to undertake major works.

The tenants possess the right request for extension lease and the landlord's case of oppression. The best practice is to ensure the sale/purchase or rent policy's agreement before selling and renting the property. The ethical and moral value is to respect the bindings. 

Which one is better in Belgium: Buying or Renting?

Suppose you can decide on a better option for renting or buying. Let us discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages that you might face. Rental contracts are usually long-term based.

The contract term is revised based on maintenance and decoration by tenants. The landlord is happy with the tenants, who will keep things in order as provided. And sometimes they do not even have to pay for the mortgage amount.

Thinking about buying a property in Belgium. The best scenario will be staying longer for more than 7-8 years. Otherwise, investment in the buying sector is not the right choice.

What are the ways to rent a property?

It is feasible to rent both apartments and houses available in Belgium. There are two main ways to rent property.

  1. You can approach a real estate agent.
  2. You can look up available places on an online portal for a property.

Some of the commonly known portals in Belgium include BBF and Immoweb. You can check out for more available rental agencies in Belgium. 

Do Renting a Furnished house, a better option? 

Most of the time, people usually fall for the conviction that non-furnished houses mean a house without a carpet, cutlery, couch, or desk.

Empty does mean empty. The apartment will be neat and clean in most situations, ready to move in. You can also design and decorate such houses based on your comfort style. The tenants also pay fixtures for the repairmen’s. 

Can you negotiate on the pricing?

It is a mandatory requirement from the government to the landlords to publish and advertise the accurate renting price. As an outcome, you will hardly be needed to negotiate with the landlord.

In case, if you find out that any landlord is asking way out of line, you can file a complaint against them, which could lead to fine payment. 

Do you know about the 'Lease Contract'? 

The lease contract comes into existence when the property owner signs a bond, allowing another person to take the privilege to use the owner's property under a set of certain rules.

The person taking charge of the leased property is to pay a specific amount of rent to the owner for the lease period that has been accepted by both parties. 

Every minor independent of a guardian or is over 18, i.e. defined as the age of maturity can correctly apply for the lease contract.

The best practice is to ensure all the bindings in written form both parties must keep their separate copy of the contract. It is suggested to maintain three copies of the contract.

What should be the Condition of the Property?

At the time of evacuation, the property must satisfy a specific set of functionalities to be working properly. 

  1. Functions of the building
  2. Structure and Stability
  3. Damp
  4. Ventilation and Natural Light
  5. Accessibility
  6. Fittings

The tenant has the right to discard the contract in such a condition if the factors mentioned above are not satisfied. Any individual can also ask for the damage payments if convenient. The court might permit a reduction notice in the tenants' rental payment in such cases. 

Conclusion

After discussing the factors mentioned above, it is concluded that before moving into a place like Belgium, one needs to be well aware of the consequences.

Although living in Belgium is considered the cheapest compared to Europe's. Simultaneously, a slight increase in rental pricing has been noticed since the past few years.

Both parties need to be consistent with maintaining healthy relationships between the landlords and the tenants.

It is advised strongly to become fully aware of the legal proceedings and tenant rights. For instance, if things do not go in the line, the individual must follow up with the official procedures.

Whenever you need to send or receive money to and from Belgium and other European nations, consider ACE money transfer who have established their trust among the customers and have been delivering the best of the services with confined charging rates for near two decades. Please feel free to contact us for any query and details. We are here to help you out!

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