Living in Belgium - Accommodation

Landlord - Tenant

The apportionment of costs between the landlord and the tenant is not always very clear. Sometimes landlords see these costs as a way to boost their rental income. However, there is a fairly clear description of the apportionment of costs.

The landlord has the costs of ownership of the building and the provision of services to the tenant, such as: rates, municipal tax on balconies and garages, management of the apartment block, fees of the building management (syndic), insurance linked to ownership, purchase or hire of fire extinguishers, other communal equipment, and the property tax. The tenant bears the costs of the use of the house or flat: annual inspection of the lift, sewage and household waste tax, provincial and local taxes, water consumption (based on a meter or the number of taps), surface water decontamination fee (based on water consumption), heating oil, gas and electricity, maintenance of the communal areas, and fire insurance.

The principle is that a lease exists as soon as one person (the landlord, generally the owner) rents the use of a building or part of a building to another person (the lessee or tenant) in return for the payment of rent. All tenants therefore need to have a lease: it does not necessarily have to be in writing, and it does not need to last for a certain period of time in order for it be a lease. If there is a lease in writing, read it very carefully and find out more from other people or from official bodies.

If you do not agree with the apportionment of costs, ask if the contract can be modified on that point. However, the landlord is usually not bound by law. Under the law on rent, the landlord is only required to pay the property tax. Other expenses and charges must always be dissociated from the rent and indicated in a separate account.

Ask the landlord – and preferably also a number of other tenants in the same building – about the previous year’s costs. If you feel these are unacceptably high, discuss this with the landlord. He may not make a profit on the costs, nor index the costs together with the rent. However, landlords are able to get around this by asking for an amount which includes all additional costs. The precise amount and the designation of the costs and the scale of apportionment (in the case of a flat) must be specified in the tenancy agreement.

Fixed or actual costs?

Separate amounts are charged for the (indexed) rent and for costs. As a rule, the costs cannot increase, even if the costs actually incurred increase. The parties cannot unilaterally adjust the expenses and charges. However, the tenant and the landlord can ask the justice of the peace to review the amount of fixed-rate charges or to convert this amount into actual charges. The best method is to calculate the actual charges. You then pay a monthly advance and there is a final payment.

With such a scheme ask the landlord and other tenants about the amount charged the previous year to avoid any unpleasant surprise!

Apportionment of costs in an apartment block

If you live in a flat, check how the costs are apportioned between the residents. Are there separate meters for electricity, water, gas and heating oil or is the amount split evenly between the number of flats or area let? This last method is perhaps less appealing if you are absent a lot of the time.

Is the maintenance of the communal areas divided between the number of flats or is the area of the space let used as a basis?

All these criteria determine the amount you finally pay. Questions and disputes may be brought before the Justice of the Peace.

The rent guarantee

A rent guarantee is paid to protect the landlord/lady in the event of tenants failing to fulfil their obligations (damaging the property, for example). Most contracts stipulate the payment of a rent guarantee, but it is not mandatory by law and therefore must only be paid if the contract stipulates it.

House prices

Average property prices continued to rise in the first half of 2008, although the rise was less marked than during the same period in 2007. Building plots increased in price again, according to data from the Directorate-General for statistics and economic information of the public federal economic service.

Breaking down the figures by types of accommodation, we can see the following picture:

• An ordinary house costs €169,972 on average, which is 8.1% higher than in the first half of 2007
• A villa costs €313,860 on average, up by 5.2% on the same period the previous year
• An apartment sells for an average of €172,801, which is an increase of 5.5% on the year before
• Building plots cost an average of €87 per square metre, up 9.7%
• Renting a small individual apartment in Brussels can easily cost €600 for a reasonably comfortable place
• For people intending to live in Brussels for a limited time, for work or other reasons, a better choice of accommodation than hotels or long-term lets would be furnished apartments, aparthotels or flathotels

Text last edited on: 05/2009

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2009
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