Rental rules compared
How rental rules differ, country by country
Deposits, notice periods, rent increases and contract form work differently in every market Brokik supports. Here is how twenty-five rental regimes compare — and what each one means for a landlord or property manager.25 countries, 25 rulebooks
There is no single way to rent out a flat. Renting in Germany follows very different rules than renting in Poland; the deposit you can ask for in the Netherlands is capped far lower than in Norway; and a fixed-term contract that is routine in Finland is largely banned in the Dutch market. Brokik builds each country on its own tenancy law, so this comparison is distilled from the contract templates and legal reviews behind the product. Use it to weigh renting in Germany against Poland, understand the rules for renting a flat in the Netherlands, or see what a deposit really means in Switzerland — then manage it all in one place.
Rental rules at a glanceDeposit ceilings, notice periods, rent-increase mechanisms and the required contract form across the twenty-five markets Brokik supports today.
| Country | Deposit | Notice | Rent increases | Contract | Renters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 12 months' rent | Landlord: statutory grounds only | Regulated by tenant-protection act | Written; notarial for occasional lease | 12.9% (4.8% market-rate) | |
| Capped, held separately | Landlord needs a legitimate ground | Reference rent; Mietpreisbremse in tight areas | Written, open-ended | 52.8% (46.8% market-rate) | |
| Protected in a government scheme | Periodic from the start; landlord needs a Section 8 ground | Once a year, via Section 13 notice | Assured (periodic) tenancy | 35% | |
| 3 months + up to 3 months prepaid | Tenant 3 months; landlord limited | Annual net price index | Authorised standard form | 39.1% (38.9% market-rate) | |
| Up to 3 months' rent | Tenant 6 months; landlord at term only | Annual ISTAT (barred under cedolare secca) | Registered; 4+4 or 3+2 | 24.1% (16% market-rate) | |
| 1 month (2 furnished; none for mobility) | Tenant 3 months; landlord 6 months | Annual IRL (frozen for F/G energy) | Mandatory state model | 38.8% (16.9% market-rate) | |
| Up to 6 months, escrow account | 3 months (open-ended) | Annual CPI | Written; 3-year minimum term | 21.2% (19.3% market-rate) | |
| Flanders 3 / Brussels 2 / Wallonia 2 months | Tenant 3 months; landlord 6 months | Annual health index | Written, registered; 9-year default | 29.7% (20.5% market-rate) | |
| Up to 3 months, interest-bearing | 3 months (unspecified term) | By agreement, within statutory limits | Written | 20.7% (8.1% market-rate) | |
| Up to 2x bare rent | Strong statutory protection | Regulated annual increase | Written; open-ended default | 31.2% (5.3% market-rate) | |
| No statutory cap (3-6 months usual) | Landlord: closed statutory catalogue | CPI-linked cap (2026 rules) | Written; tier-dependent term | 45.5% (30.7% market-rate) | |
| Up to 3 months, blocked account | 3 months; official form required | Mortgage reference rate + costs | Written; cantonal form where required | 58% (52.4% market-rate) | |
| Up to 3 months' rent | Tenant 1 month; landlord 3-6 months | By agreed basis (e.g. index) | Written; reform from Oct 2026 | 31.9% (20.1% market-rate) | |
| 1 month (fianza) | 5/7-year minimum term | IRAV index; capped in stressed zones | Written; 5/7-year minimum | 26.3% (17.6% market-rate) | |
| Freely negotiated (market practice ~3 months) | Tenant 60 days; landlord 60 days + a ground | Freely negotiable, no statutory cap | Written; SZ-1 residential lease | 25.2% (6.8% market-rate) | |
| No statutory cap (market practice 1–3 months) | Tenant 1 month; landlord 6 months (fixed-term: fault only) | Max once/12 months; unilateral indexation void | Written for fixed-term; CK residential lease | 12.6% (2.9% market-rate) | |
| Capped at 2 months' rent | Tenant 1 month, no reason; landlord only on statutory grounds (1–3 months, or immediate) | Only if the contract pre-agrees the change principles | Written; fixed-term only — no indefinite leases | 16.3% (6.1% market-rate) | |
| Capped at 3x rent + charges (zákon 98/2014, §5) | Landlord 1 month / 15 days for serious breach (2 months if unregistered); tenant 1 month / 15 days | Unilateral increase limited to inflation or service-cost changes only | Written form + tax registration mandatory; short-term lease under zákon 98/2014, max 6 years | 6.9% (4.1% market-rate) | |
| Jistota + penalty capped at 3x rent combined, statutory interest accrues (NOZ §2254) | Landlord 3 months, closed grounds; no-notice termination for 3+ months' arrears (§2291) | Max 20% over 3 years absent contractual indexation, capped at comparable local rent (§2249) | Fixed-term or indefinite; written form required, but not a validity condition (§2237) | 25.3% (19% market-rate) | |
| No statutory cap since the 2023 DNU; market practice 1-2 months | Tenant: 10% of remaining rent, any time; landlord: fault-based only | Fully free — any index, any frequency | Written; freely negotiated term (2-year default) | 37% | |
| No statutory cap; market practice 1-2 months' rent | Tenant: 3 months, any time, no reason; landlord: fault-based (30-day opomena) or own-use, 3-6 months | Frozen year 1, then capped at +20% over comparable market rent | Written form required by law (Zakon o najmu stanova, čl. 4) | 9% | |
| No statutory cap in Texas; market practice ~1 month's rent | Month-to-month only: 30 days, no cause needed | No rent control; free market rate | Written form required only for leases over 1 year | 34.9% | |
| Capped at 4 weeks' rent (NSW); paid into the state bond authority, not held by the landlord | Landlord: 90 days (no-fault reasons only, banned without grounds) or 14 days (breach); tenant: 21 days, no reason needed | Once every 12 months, 60 days' notice; no cap but tenant can challenge as excessive at NCAT | Must use the government's prescribed standard form (NSW Schedule 1); weekly rent | 30.6% | |
| No statutory cap; market practice is 1 month's rent per year of the tenancy, held by the landlord (no bond scheme) | No statutory notice periods — entirely contractual; fixed-term leases simply expire at the end of the term | No rent control; free market rate, negotiated at renewal | No prescribed form; private tenancies must run a minimum of 3 months; 0.4% stamp duty payable by the tenant | 9.2% | |
| No statutory cap; market practice 1–2 months' rent, must be held in an interest-bearing account with interest paid to the tenant | Fixed-term capped at 24 months for individual tenants (CPA); tenant may cancel anytime on 20 business days' notice | No rent control; market-standard escalation clause, typically around 8% a year | No prescribed form; joint move-in/move-out inspection is mandatory, with loss of deduction rights if skipped | 25.1% |
How renting works in each countryA short profile of the rental culture, the governing law and the details that most often surprise a cross-border landlord.
Poland is Brokik's home market and its largest. Long-term residential letting is shaped by strong statutory tenant protection, alongside landlord-friendlier variants such as the occasional lease (najem okazjonalny).
- Rental market
- 12.9% of the population rents, of which 4.8% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Tenant Protection Act (ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów) and the Civil Code. A landlord may terminate an ongoing residential lease only on the statutory grounds set out in art. 11 of the Act.
- Deposit
- The deposit (kaucja) is capped by statute at up to twelve months' rent and is settled after the tenancy ends and the handover protocol is signed.
- Notice & termination
- Ordinary termination by the landlord is restricted to the statutory grounds and forms; ongoing indefinite tenancies are strongly protected.
- Rent increases
- Rent increases are regulated by the Tenant Protection Act, which limits how often and on what basis a landlord may raise the rent.
- Worth knowing
- The occasional lease (najem okazjonalny) lets an owner attach a notarial voluntary submission to enforcement, making it far quicker to recover the flat — a landlord-friendly device specific to Poland.
- Landlord risk
- Outside the occasional-lease regime, evicting a protected tenant is slow; getting the lease type right at the start matters.
Germany is a large, mature rental market where most people rent long term and open-ended leases are the norm. Tenant protection is among the strongest in Europe.
- Rental market
- 52.8% of the population rents, of which 46.8% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Residential tenancies are governed by the Civil Code (BGB). Landlord termination requires a legitimate statutory ground, such as the owner's own use (Eigenbedarf).
- Deposit
- A security deposit (Kaution) is customary; German law caps it and requires it to be held separately from the landlord's own assets.
- Notice & termination
- Notice periods and the grounds for landlord termination are set by statute; tenants enjoy extensive protection against termination.
- Rent increases
- Ongoing rent increases follow a local reference-rent mechanism. In designated high-demand areas the Mietpreisbremse caps the rent that may be charged on a new letting.
- Worth knowing
- The Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) limits the starting rent on new lettings in tight housing markets — a headline feature of the German system.
- Landlord risk
- High tenant protection and strict formal requirements for both rent increases and termination leave little room for error.
Since the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (in force since 1 May 2026), the assured periodic tenancy is the only form of private letting in England; fixed terms and the Section 21 no-fault eviction route have both been abolished.
- Rental market
- 35% of households rent (private and social combined).
- Legal framework
- Private residential lettings are now built around the assured periodic tenancy under the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
- Deposit
- The deposit must be placed in a government-backed tenancy deposit protection scheme; failing to protect it exposes the landlord to statutory penalties and can block certain notices.
- Notice & termination
- There is no fixed term — the tenancy is periodic from the start. Section 21 no-fault eviction has been abolished, so the landlord can only end it on one of the Section 8 grounds; the tenant may leave at any time on two months' notice.
- Rent increases
- Rent can now be raised only once a year, through the statutory Section 13 notice; rent-review clauses agreed in the contract are void.
- Worth knowing
- Mandatory deposit protection is the detail that trips up cross-border landlords: the deposit has to sit in an approved scheme, not in the landlord's account.
- Landlord risk
- Non-compliance with deposit protection carries real financial penalties and weakens the landlord's position in a dispute.
Danish letting is tenant-protective, with rents regulated in some municipalities and free in others, and an authorised standard lease form widely used.
- Rental market
- 39.1% of the population rents, of which 38.9% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Lejeloven (recodified in 2022). Clauses that put the tenant in a worse position than the law, if placed outside the special-terms section, are void.
- Deposit
- The deposit may be at most three months' rent, and any prepaid rent may likewise be at most three months' rent.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant may give three months' notice; the landlord's right to terminate is limited to the statutory grounds, with at least one year's notice for own use.
- Rent increases
- Rent is adjusted once a year in line with the net price index (Statistics Denmark), stated in the contract with its base month and index.
- Worth knowing
- A landlord who rents out more than one unit must hand over move-in and move-out reports within two weeks. Missing the deadline forfeits any claim for reinstatement costs tied to the property's condition — though not claims like unpaid rent — unless the tenant acted fraudulently.
- Landlord risk
- The authorised form and the entry-report deadline are formal traps; miss them and deposit claims can fail entirely.
Italian residential letting runs mainly on two regimes: 4+4 free-rent contracts and 3+2 agreed-rent contracts that trade a capped rent for tax breaks.
- Rental market
- 24.1% of the population rents, of which 16% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by Law 431/1998, the Civil Code and Law 392/1978. Every contract must be registered with the tax authority within thirty days.
- Deposit
- The security deposit (deposito cauzionale) may not exceed three months' rent under art. 11 of Law 392/1978.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant may withdraw at any time for serious reasons with six months' notice; the landlord may refuse renewal at the first expiry only on statutory grounds, with six months' notice and a stated reason, on pain of nullity.
- Rent increases
- Rent is updated annually in line with the ISTAT consumer-price index where agreed; under the cedolare secca flat-tax regime the ISTAT increase is prohibited.
- Worth knowing
- The cedolare secca is a flat substitute tax (21%, or 10% for agreed-rent) that also exempts the contract from registration and stamp duty — but rent must then be paid through traceable means, and cash is excluded.
- Landlord risk
- Registration within thirty days and traceable rent payments are compliance musts; the agreed-rent bands are hyper-local.
France mandates an official contract model for a primary-residence lease, backs the tenant strongly, and caps rent levels in a growing list of tight-market cities.
- Rental market
- 38.8% of the population rents, of which 16.9% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the 1989 tenancy law and its decrees. Since 2015 every primary-residence lease must use the official state contract model.
- Deposit
- The deposit is capped at one month's rent for an unfurnished let (two months for furnished); the mobility lease (bail mobilité) allows no deposit at all.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant gives three months' notice (one month in a tight-market zone); the landlord may give notice only at term, with six months' notice and a legitimate, serious reason.
- Rent increases
- Rent is revised once a year by the reference rent index (IRL) where the contract provides — but no increase or indexation applies while the dwelling is rated F or G on its energy certificate.
- Worth knowing
- Rent is frozen for energy-poor F/G homes until they improve, and encadrement des loyers caps the rent level itself in designated cities; late return of the deposit adds a 10%-per-month penalty.
- Landlord risk
- Using the official model, respecting rent controls and the energy-rating freeze are all mandatory, with fines for getting rent caps wrong.
Norwegian tenancy law is mandatory in the tenant's favour: a fixed-term residential lease normally must run at least three years, and anything shorter without a valid exception silently becomes open-ended.
- Rental market
- 21.2% of the population rents, of which 19.3% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the husleieloven. A clause less favourable to the tenant than the law is simply void.
- Deposit
- The deposit may be at most six months' rent and must sit in a separate deposit account (depositumskonto) in the tenant's name; interest accrues to the tenant and neither party can touch it during the tenancy.
- Notice & termination
- An open-ended lease carries three months' notice to the end of a calendar month; a single room with shared access to the landlord's home is one month.
- Rent increases
- Either party may adjust the rent once a year by the change in the consumer price index, at least twelve months apart and with one month's written notice; alignment to the going market rent is possible only after two and a half years.
- Worth knowing
- The law gives the tenant a right to keep pets with good reason despite a ban, and the escrow deposit account means the deposit never passes through the landlord's hands; no fee beyond rent, deposit and guarantee may be charged.
- Landlord risk
- The six-month deposit must be escrowed rather than held by the landlord, and a mis-drafted short fixed term quietly turns into an indefinite tenancy.
Belgium regionalised its tenancy law in 2014, so the rules differ across the Flemish, Brussels and Walloon Regions; the default residential lease runs nine years on a 3/6/9 structure.
- Rental market
- 29.7% of the population rents, of which 20.5% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the regional housing decrees (Flanders 2018, the Brussels Housing Code, Wallonia 2018) plus the Civil Code, applied according to where the property sits.
- Deposit
- The deposit ceiling depends on the region: up to three months' rent in Flanders, two months in Brussels (reform of 1 November 2024) and two months in Wallonia (since 1 June 2023), held on a blocked account in the tenant's name or via a regional guarantee fund.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant may give three months' notice at any time (with an indemnity of three, two or one month's rent if this falls in the first, second or third three-year period); the landlord can leave early for own use with six months' notice, or without reason only at the end of a triennial period.
- Rent increases
- Rent is indexed annually to the health index; for dwellings with a weak energy label the indexation is restricted in Wallonia and Brussels.
- Worth knowing
- Three regional deposit caps sit side by side, and until the lease is registered with the tax authority (free, within two months) the tenant can walk away with no notice or indemnity.
- Landlord risk
- The rules for deposit, notice and energy-label indexation all depend on the property's region, and registration is mandatory.
Estonia runs a largely flexible tenancy regime with a mandatory tenant-protective core, and a notably tenant-friendly deposit rule.
- Rental market
- 20.7% of the population rents, of which 8.1% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Law of Obligations Act (Võlaõigusseadus). Terms that protect the tenant cannot be waived to the tenant's disadvantage.
- Deposit
- The deposit (tagatisraha) may be at most three months' rent, may be paid in instalments, and must be kept in a separate account earning interest for the tenant.
- Notice & termination
- An unspecified-term residential lease can be terminated on three months' notice.
- Rent increases
- Rent-increase terms are agreed in the contract, within the mandatory tenant-protective limits of the Act.
- Worth knowing
- The deposit is capped at three months, can be paid in up to three instalments and earns statutory interest for the tenant — one of Europe's more tenant-friendly deposit rules.
- Landlord risk
- The protective provisions cannot be contracted away, so a landlord-heavy clause simply will not hold.
In the Netherlands open-ended leases are the rule again since the 2024 reform, which largely put an end to fixed-term residential contracts.
- Rental market
- 31.2% of the population rents, of which 5.3% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by Book 7 of the Civil Code and the Good Landlordship Act, which imposes a written information duty on the landlord.
- Deposit
- The deposit is capped at twice the bare rent and must be returned within 14 or 30 days after the tenancy ends.
- Notice & termination
- Tenants enjoy strong statutory protection against termination; the grounds and periods for landlord notice are set by the Civil Code.
- Rent increases
- Annual rent increases are regulated, and the landlord owes the tenant a written information duty at the outset of the tenancy.
- Worth knowing
- Since the Wet vaste huurcontracten took effect on 1 July 2024, a fixed-term residential lease is largely no longer allowed — open-ended is the default again.
- Landlord risk
- A fixed-term contract signed as if the old rules applied is largely void, and tenant protection is strong.
Austrian rental law is layered: the Tenancy Act (MRG) applies in full, in part, or not at all depending on the building, and rent regulation only bites where it applies.
- Rental market
- 45.5% of the population rents, of which 30.7% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Civil Code (ABGB) and, where applicable, the MRG. Landlord termination is limited to the closed catalogue of grounds in the Act.
- Deposit
- The MRG sets no statutory deposit cap; the Supreme Court treats three to six months' gross rent as generally acceptable.
- Notice & termination
- A landlord can terminate only on the exhaustive statutory grounds, through the courts.
- Rent increases
- Index-linked rent adjustments are capped: since 1 January 2026 at most once a year, with full CPI pass-through up to 3% and half of the excess above that, plus extra caps in the fully-regulated segment.
- Worth knowing
- The MRG's full, partial and exempt tiers, together with the Mietenpaket 2026 reform, set the minimum fixed term at five years for a business landlord and three for a private one, with a 25% discount for fixed terms in the fully-regulated segment.
- Landlord risk
- Which rules apply turns on the building's MRG tier; getting the tier wrong misprices both the rent and the deposit.
Switzerland has a single federal tenancy law that applies uniformly across every canton, with rents tied to a published mortgage reference rate.
- Rental market
- 58% of the population rents, of which 52.4% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Code of Obligations (OR), art. 253 onwards. A landlord's termination is valid only on the canton-approved official form, and is otherwise void.
- Deposit
- The deposit is capped at three months' rent for a home, held on a blocked account in the tenant's own name; the bank releases it to the tenant if the landlord raises no claim within a year of the lease ending.
- Notice & termination
- An open-ended lease carries three months' notice to the customary local term; the landlord must use the official form.
- Rent increases
- Rent adjustments track the published mortgage reference rate and general cost and index movements, and an increase must be served on the official form.
- Worth knowing
- Several cantons require the initial rent to be disclosed on an official form, and because rent follows the reference rate a tenant can demand a reduction when the rate falls; a free conciliation board must be tried before any court case.
- Landlord risk
- A termination that is not on the correct cantonal form is void, and rent tied to the reference rate can be pushed down as well as up.
Finland lets rents be set freely — there is no rent control — while a core of tenant-protective rules cannot be waived.
- Rental market
- 31.9% of the population rents, of which 20.1% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Act on Residential Leases (481/1995). Most of it is default law the parties can vary, but the protective provisions are mandatory.
- Deposit
- The deposit (vakuus) may be at most three months' rent; a term for a larger deposit is void, and no dedicated blocked account is required.
- Notice & termination
- On an open-ended lease the tenant's notice is always one month; the landlord's is six months once the tenancy has lasted a year, otherwise three.
- Rent increases
- Rent is freely agreed, but a mid-term change needs an agreed basis such as an index clause, notified in writing before it takes effect.
- Worth knowing
- A confirmed reform takes effect on 1 October 2026: landlord notice becomes three or four months, a 14-day deposit-return duty is added, rent-increase notice must give at least a month with no back-dating, and smoking is banned by default.
- Landlord risk
- The regime is mostly dispositive today, but the October 2026 reform changes the notice, deposit and rent-notice rules a landlord relies on.
Spain is strongly tenant-protective: a residential lease runs a mandatory minimum of five years where the landlord is an individual, seven where it is a company.
- Rental market
- 26.3% of the population rents, of which 17.6% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Urban Leases Act (LAU, Law 29/1994), as amended in 2019 and 2023. Its residential rules are imperative in the tenant's favour.
- Deposit
- The compulsory deposit (fianza) is exactly one month's rent for a home, which the landlord lodges with the autonomous community; any extra guarantee is capped at two months' rent.
- Notice & termination
- The lease extends automatically to the five- or seven-year minimum; the tenant may leave after six months with thirty days' notice, and an individual landlord can recover the home for own use after the first year with two months' notice, only if reserved in the contract.
- Rent increases
- For contracts from 26 May 2023 an update clause may reference only the IRAV index; in a declared stressed-market zone the new rent is capped by the previous rent or a reference-price ceiling.
- Worth knowing
- Rent updates are tied to the IRAV index and capped in stressed zones, and management and contract-formalisation costs always fall on the landlord.
- Landlord risk
- The five/seven-year minimum term, the stressed-zone rent caps and a regional habitability certificate in some areas all constrain the landlord.
Slovenia leaves a market-rate residential lease largely to the parties' agreement: beyond a 60-day notice floor and the mandatory written form, rent, deposit and additional termination grounds are all freely negotiated.
- Rental market
- 25.2% of the population rents, of which 6.8% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Stanovanjski zakon (SZ-1), with the Obligacijski zakonik (OZ) applying to anything the housing act does not cover.
- Deposit
- SZ-1 sets no statutory cap on the deposit for a market-rate lease — the three-month ceiling only applies to non-profit housing. In practice landlords typically ask for around three months' rent, freely agreed with the tenant.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant may end the lease at any time without giving a reason, on 60 days' written notice (art. 102 SZ-1). For an indefinite-term lease the landlord's notice period is likewise at least 60 days (art. 112 SZ-1), and must rely on the fault-based grounds of art. 103 or on additional grounds the parties expressly agreed in the contract, which art. 105 permits for market-rate lettings.
- Rent increases
- Rent for a market-rate lease is freely agreed between the parties; SZ-1 sets no statutory index or point system for it — that mechanism only applies to non-profit housing.
- Worth knowing
- Article 105 lets a market-rate lease add its own termination grounds on top of the statutory list, so a well-drafted contract gives the landlord more room than the bare law provides.
- Landlord risk
- Because notice periods and grounds sit largely in the contract itself, an under-specified lease leaves the landlord with only the narrow art. 103 grounds and the 60-day statutory minimum to fall back on.
Lithuania leaves a market-rate residential lease largely to the parties' agreement, but layers on strong imperative tenant protections: a one-month notice floor for the tenant, and court-only eviction for the landlord.
- Rental market
- 12.6% of the population rents, of which 2.9% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Lietuvos Respublikos civilinis kodeksas (Civil Code, CK), Šeštoji knyga (Book Six), skyrius XXXI "Gyvenamosios patalpos nuoma" (residential-premises lease, arts. 6.576–6.629).
- Deposit
- CK sets no statutory ceiling on the deposit (užstatas) for a market-rate lease — the chapter is silent on the amount, and market practice keeps it within one to three months' rent, freely agreed with the tenant. Brokik's template returns it within 30 days of the lease ending, the dwelling's return and the signing of the handover report.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant may end a fixed-term or indefinite lease at any time without cause, on one month's written notice (CK 6.609) — an imperative right a contract cannot shorten. The landlord may end an indefinite lease only on six months' notice (CK 6.614); a fixed-term lease only for the tenant's fault under CK 6.611 (for example arrears of three months or more). Termination and eviction happen only through the courts.
- Rent increases
- Rent may be changed only by written agreement of both parties, and no more than once every twelve months; a term letting the landlord unilaterally recalculate or raise the rent, or change it more often, is void (CK 6.583). Rent cannot be taken in advance except for the first month.
- Worth knowing
- Registering the lease with Registrų centras (Nekilnojamojo turto registras) is voluntary, but only a registered lease can be invoked against third parties (CK 6.478) — an easy step for a landlord to skip and later regret.
- Landlord risk
- Because eviction runs only through the courts and a fixed-term lease can be ended early only for the tenant's fault, an under-documented tenancy — no handover report, no proof of arrears — leaves a landlord with very little room to act quickly.
Latvia runs one of the most structurally rigid residential-lease regimes Brokik covers: since the 2021 reform every lease must be fixed-term, full stop — there is no indefinite-term option at all, and the written form is not optional.
- Rental market
- 16.3% of the population rents, of which 6.1% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Dzīvojamo telpu īres likums (Residential Tenancy Law), adopted 2021 and in force since 2021-05-01, which replaced the 1993 "Par dzīvojamo telpu īri"; the general lease rules of the Civillikums (Civil Law) fill in anything the housing act does not cover.
- Deposit
- The drošības nauda (deposit) may not exceed two months' rent (12. pants, part 1); at the end of the lease any outstanding contractual debt is deducted from it and the landlord promptly notifies the tenant (12. pants, part 2), and the deposit, or its unused part, is returned no later than the day the dwelling is vacated (12. pants, part 4).
- Notice & termination
- The tenant may withdraw at any time without cause on at least one month's written notice, for leases up to ten years (27. pants, part 1). The landlord may terminate only on the exhaustive statutory grounds listed in 22.–26. pants, with the notice period set by 27. pants: one month for the 23. pants or 24. pants grounds and for a 25. pants termination of a lease of up to one year, three months for a 25. pants termination of a one-to-three-year lease, and immediate for the 26. pants ground; the 22. pants ground carries no fixed statutory notice period.
- Rent increases
- Rent may be changed during the term only if the contract itself sets out the change principles in advance (10. pants, part 3) — without such a clause, the landlord has no right to raise the rent at all.
- Worth knowing
- The parties may voluntarily register the lease in the Zemesgrāmata (Land Register), free of charge (35. pants); registration binds a future acquirer of the property and, where agreed, enables expedited undisputed enforcement of the tenant's obligation to vacate — a strong, low-cost landlord safeguard most cross-border owners never think to use.
- Landlord risk
- There is no indefinite-lease fallback: every contract has a hard end date, and the rent-change mechanism has to be written into the contract from day one — skip that clause and the rent is frozen for the whole term regardless of inflation.
Slovakia runs two parallel lease regimes and lets the landlord choose between them: a strongly tenant-protective default under the Civil Code, and a self-contained, landlord-friendlier short-term regime under zákon č. 98/2014 that switches off most of that protection — provided the landlord meets its conditions.
- Rental market
- 6.9% of the population rents, of which 4.1% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Občiansky zákonník (Civil Code, zákon č. 40/1964 Zb.), §685 a nasl. for the residential-lease default regime, and zákon č. 98/2014 Z. z. o krátkodobom nájme bytu for the short-term regime Brokik's template uses by default.
- Deposit
- Under zákon 98/2014, the deposit (peňažná zábezpeka) is capped by law at three times the monthly rent plus service charges (§5) — a hard ceiling, not a guideline. If the landlord draws on it during the tenancy, the tenant must top it up within one month of a written request; the landlord returns any unused balance within one month of the flat being handed back.
- Notice & termination
- Under 98/2014, the landlord's standard notice is one month, shortened to 15 days for serious breaches such as rent arrears over two months or deliberate damage — but it stretches to a minimum of two months if the landlord skipped the tax-registration condition. Tenants can give one month's notice as standard, or 15 days if the flat becomes genuinely unfit to live in. The Civil Code fallback instead requires a closed list of statutory reasons, a 3-month notice period, and in many cases a substitute dwelling for the tenant before the lease can actually end.
- Rent increases
- A unilateral rent increase under 98/2014 is only allowed to track expected average annual inflation or a rise in the cost of the services bundled with the flat — never as a discretionary market adjustment. Any larger change needs both parties' agreement.
- Worth knowing
- The 98/2014 regime is the only one of the two that lets a landlord skip the Civil Code's substitute-housing obligation (bytová náhrada) entirely on termination — but only if the contract is written, the landlord is registered with the tax authority, and the tenant signs an acknowledgement of the 98/2014 regime; miss any one of the three and the lease silently falls back to the Civil Code.
- Landlord risk
- Because the three validity conditions for 98/2014 are easy to overlook, an under-documented Slovak lease — unwritten, unregistered, or missing the tenant's acknowledgement — quietly loses its landlord-friendly notice periods and gains the Civil Code's substitute-housing obligation instead, right when the landlord needs the shorter path most.
Czech residential-lease law is semi-imperative and runs strongly in the tenant's favor by default — most of the rules protecting the tenant simply can't be contracted around — but the landlord still keeps a workable, closed set of termination grounds and a genuine no-notice route for serious arrears.
- Rental market
- 25.3% of the population rents, of which 19% at market rates.
- Legal framework
- Governed by zákon č. 89/2012 Sb. (the 2012 Civil Code), the residential-lease provisions at §2235–2301 (Zvláštní ustanovení o nájmu bytu a nájmu domu), in force since 2014-01-01 and last materially amended by zákon č. 163/2020 Sb.
- Deposit
- The security deposit (jistota) and any contractual penalty are capped together, by law, at three times the monthly rent (§2254(1)) — a combined ceiling, not three times each. Uniquely among Brokik's markets, the deposit earns statutory interest for the tenant while it's held, calculated from the date it was paid in.
- Notice & termination
- A landlord can only give notice with a 3-month period, and only for one of a closed list of reasons under §2288 — serious breach, a criminal conviction against the landlord or a resident, demolition/rebuilding, or (indefinite leases only) genuine self-use need. The notice must state the reason and include a statutory instruction on the tenant's right to challenge it in court, or it's void outright. For serious ongoing breaches — most commonly rent or utility arrears of three months or more — the landlord can terminate with no notice period at all under §2291, but only after first formally warning the tenant.
- Rent increases
- Absent a contractual indexation mechanism, a unilateral rent increase under §2249 is capped at 20% over the trailing three years combined and can never exceed the going comparable rent for the area; the new rent only takes effect from the third calendar month after the proposal is delivered.
- Worth knowing
- A fixed-term lease automatically renews under §2285 if the tenant keeps using the flat for three months after the term ends and the landlord doesn't object in writing — but the landlord can opt out of that automatic renewal up front, a real, usable lever for anyone who wants a fixed-term lease to actually end on the date it says it ends.
- Landlord risk
- A Czech notice of termination is void outright — not just defective — if it omits the statutory instruction on the tenant's right to object and go to court (§2286(2)); this single procedural miss is the most common way a landlord's otherwise valid termination collapses.
Argentina is Brokik's first non-European market — and one of the most deregulated: since the DNU 70/2023 reform, consolidated into statute by the 2024 Ley Bases, rent, deposit, currency, term and indexation are almost entirely a matter of what landlord and tenant agree.
- Rental market
- 37% of households rent (private and social combined).
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Código Civil y Comercial (CCyC), arts. 1187–1226, in the version resulting from Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia 70/2023 and consolidated at statute level by Ley Bases (ley 27.742, July 2024); the previous rent law 27.551 is repealed and does not apply to contracts signed from 29 December 2023 onward.
- Deposit
- The deposit (depósito en garantía) carries no statutory ceiling after the DNU — market practice sits at one to two months' rent, in ARS, USD or UVA as the parties choose.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant may end the lease at any time by paying a flat indemnity of 10% of the rent installments remaining between notice and the contractual end date (art. 1221 CCyC); the landlord may only terminate for the tenant's breach — non-payment, misuse or breach of obligations (art. 1219).
- Rent increases
- Rent and its update mechanism are fully free: the parties choose any index (IPC, ICL, CER, UVA, RIPTE, CAC or another) and any frequency, with no statutory cap or mandated benchmark.
- Worth knowing
- The lease currency is entirely free — ARS, USD or UVA, expressly stated in the contract — and Argentina is the only Brokik market with no energy-certificate requirement of any kind for renting, at either the federal or (with rare provincial exceptions limited to property sales) the local level.
- Landlord risk
- Because the landlord can only end a lease for the tenant's fault, and the tenant can walk away for a modest, capped indemnity at any time, the landlord's practical protection rests almost entirely on documentation — a signed handover protocol and clear proof of arrears — rather than on any notice-without-cause right.
Croatia combines one of the EU's highest homeownership rates with a fast-growing rental niche concentrated in Zagreb and the coast, governed by a tenant-protective statute that still leaves the deposit itself unregulated.
- Rental market
- 9% of households rent (private and social combined).
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Zakon o najmu stanova (Dwelling Lease Act); a written contract is mandatory (čl. 4 st. 2) and the lease must be registered with the local self-government unit (JLS) and the Tax Administration (Porezna uprava) (čl. 26); registering for rental-income tax with the Porezna uprava must separately happen within 8 days of first receiving rent.
- Deposit
- The deposit (polog) has no statutory ceiling — the law is silent on it — so the amount is whatever landlord and tenant agree; market practice in Zagreb sits at one to two months' rent.
- Notice & termination
- The tenant can end the lease at any time, without giving a reason, on three months' notice (čl. 23). The landlord's options are narrower: for the tenant's own fault — such as non-payment — the landlord must first send a 30-day written warning (opomena) and can only then terminate on three months' notice (čl. 19, čl. 22); if the landlord instead wants to move into the flat personally, that requires a longer six-month notice and arranging a suitable replacement flat for the tenant (čl. 21).
- Rent increases
- Rent is frozen for the first 12 months of the lease; any increase after that is capped at 20% above the comparable average free-market rent for similar dwellings in the same settlement or county (čl. 10).
- Worth knowing
- An energy performance certificate is mandatory for every rental listing under the Zakon o gradnji (Building Act, čl. 171), with fines of EUR 1,000-2,000 for renting without one — but there is no statutory handover protocol; a written primopredajni zapisnik is market practice, not a legal requirement.
- Landlord risk
- Because termination for cause requires a documented 30-day cure notice and the deposit is unregulated, a landlord's practical protection rests on a clear written contract, a voluntary handover protocol and prompt registration — not on any no-fault notice right.
Texas is Brokik's reference U.S. jurisdiction — one of the country's most landlord-friendly regimes, with no statutory deposit cap and no rent control, balanced by a short list of mandatory federal disclosures.
- Rental market
- 34.9% of households rent (private and social combined).
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Texas Property Code, Title 8 "Landlord and Tenant" (Chapter 92, Residential Tenancies; Chapter 24, forcible-entry/eviction procedure); there is no federal residential-tenancy statute, so every other U.S. state runs its own, different regime.
- Deposit
- No statutory ceiling on the security deposit (Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.101–92.109) — landlord and tenant set the amount by agreement, with one month's rent the common market practice.
- Notice & termination
- A fixed-term lease simply ends on its stated date; once the tenancy is month-to-month, either party can end it with written notice of at least 30 days, no reason required (Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001) — eviction always requires a court order, never self-help.
- Rent increases
- Texas has no rent control of any kind — state law preempts any city or county from capping rent (Tex. Local Gov. Code § 214.902) — so rent increases are set entirely by market agreement between the parties.
- Worth knowing
- Federal law, not Texas law, drives the two disclosures every U.S. landlord should know: a Lead Warning Statement for any property built before 1978 (42 U.S.C. § 4852d), and Fair Housing Act protection against discrimination on seven grounds, including a duty to accommodate assistance and service animals even under a no-pets policy.
- Landlord risk
- Because Texas caps neither the deposit nor rent, and terminating a month-to-month tenancy needs no cause, a landlord's real exposure sits in the federal disclosure duties and the strict 30-day deposit-return clock — miss either and statutory damages plus the tenant's attorney's fees apply.
New South Wales is Brokik's reference Australian jurisdiction — a strongly tenant-protective regime built around a compulsory government standard form and a state-held bond, balanced by no statutory cap on the amount of rent itself.
- Rental market
- 30.6% of households rent (private and social combined).
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) and the Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019 (NSW); there is no federal residential-tenancy law, so every other Australian state and territory runs its own, different regime and its own government standard form.
- Deposit
- Capped at 4 weeks' rent for every tenancy, furnished or not (s.159) — and it never sits with the landlord: it must be lodged with Rental Bonds Online (RBO), the NSW bond authority, within 10 business days (s.162), earning no interest for either party.
- Notice & termination
- No-grounds terminations are banned since 19 May 2025 — a landlord needs a statutory reason and at least 90 days' notice (non-breach) or 14 days (breach); a periodic tenant can leave any time with 21 days' notice, no reason required. Eviction always needs a tribunal order — self-help is illegal.
- Rent increases
- Rent can rise at most once every 12 months, with at least 60 days' written notice stating a precise new amount — a vague formula is invalid. There's no percentage cap, but a tenant can ask the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to rule an increase excessive within 30 days.
- Worth knowing
- The condition report is a mandatory attachment, not a courtesy — the landlord must hand the tenant two copies (or one electronic) before or at signing, documenting the property room by room, and it becomes the deciding evidence if the bond is disputed at the end of the tenancy.
- Landlord risk
- Because the bond, the notice periods and the standard form itself are all fixed by NSW statute, a landlord's real exposure sits in the mandatory material-fact disclosures (flood, bushfire, asbestos register, prior violent crime and more) and the 10-business-day bond-lodgement clock — miss either and the landlord, not the tenant, carries the consequence.
Singapore has no residential tenancy statute — renting runs on ordinary contract law, the common law and general property legislation, making Brokik's 61-clause template unusually load-bearing for tenant and landlord protection alike.
- Rental market
- 9.2% of households rent (private and social combined).
- Legal framework
- Governed by the common law together with the Civil Law Act 1909 and the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1886; no 'Residential Tenancies Act' exists. Brokik's template covers private residential property (URA-regulated); HDB public housing sits under a separate approval regime and is out of scope.
- Deposit
- No statutory cap — market practice is 1 month's rent per year of the tenancy term, held directly by the landlord (no government bond scheme). Disputes go to the Small Claims Tribunals (SCT), which have handled residential claims up to S$20,000 (S$30,000 by consent) since 2023.
- Notice & termination
- No statutory notice periods exist — everything is contractual. Fixed-term tenancies (typically 12 or 24 months) simply expire; a market-standard 'diplomatic clause' lets many foreign tenants end early after 12 months with 2 months' notice.
- Rent increases
- No rent control of any kind — Singapore has none, and increases happen freely at renewal, set entirely by market negotiation between the parties.
- Worth knowing
- Every tenancy agreement is subject to a 0.4% stamp duty on the total rent, payable to IRAS within 14 days of signing (30 days if signed abroad) — the tenant bears the cost by default, and an unstamped agreement is inadmissible as court evidence until paid.
- Landlord risk
- Because Singapore sets no statutory notice periods or rent cap, a landlord's real exposure sits in two criminally-enforced duties: verifying every foreign tenant's immigration status before move-in (harbouring an overstayer risks 6 months to 2 years' imprisonment), and never letting a private unit for under 3 months (fines up to S$200,000).
South Africa has a dedicated national rental statute, the Rental Housing Act, layered with consumer-protection rules for individual tenants — one law for the whole country, not a patchwork by province.
- Rental market
- 25.1% of households rent (private and social combined).
- Legal framework
- Governed by the Rental Housing Act 50 of 1999 (RHA), the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) for tenants who are natural persons, and Roman-Dutch common law. Provinces run Rental Housing Tribunals for disputes but don't set their own tenancy rules.
- Deposit
- No statutory cap — market practice is 1–2 months' rent — but the landlord must invest it in an interest-bearing account and pay the tenant interest at least equal to the account's savings rate (RHA s.5(3)(d)), with written proof on request.
- Notice & termination
- For individual tenants, the CPA caps a fixed term at 24 months and lets the tenant cancel at any time on 20 business days' notice, subject to a reasonable early-termination charge. Eviction is court-only under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act.
- Rent increases
- No rent control of any kind — increases run on a written escalation clause agreed in the lease, typically around 8% a year; an unreasonably steep increase can still be challenged as an unfair practice before the Rental Housing Tribunal.
- Worth knowing
- A joint inspection is mandatory both at move-in and move-out (RHA s.5(3)). Skip the move-out inspection and the landlord forfeits the right to any deduction and must refund the full deposit plus interest — a stronger sanction than any other market Brokik supports.
- Landlord risk
- Eviction requires a court order under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act — a landlord who changes the locks, removes belongings or cuts utilities to force a tenant out is committing an unlawful eviction, regardless of arrears owed.
This overview is for general orientation only, distilled from Brokik's per-country rental agreement templates and market research. It is not legal advice and does not replace the current text of each country's tenancy law, which changes over time and can vary by region. Where a rule differs by region or is set to change, that is flagged in the profile.
Managing rentals in more than one country?Brokik gives every property the rental agreement, tax rules and language of its own market — in a single account.
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