Belgium: rental market overview

Belgium doesn't have a single national tenancy law any more. Since the sixth state reform in 2014, residential letting is governed by three separate regional decrees — the Flemish Woninghuurdecreet (9 November 2018), the Brussels Wetboek van Huisvesting / Code bruxellois du Logement, and the Walloon decree of 15 March 2018 — sitting on top of the federal Civil Code as a common-law backdrop. Which one applies depends entirely on where the property sits, not on where the landlord or tenant lives.

Unless the parties agree otherwise, a primary-residence lease defaults to nine years, structured as three three-year periods (the "3/6/9" pattern), under each region's own detailed rules. Whatever the term, the landlord must register the lease free of charge with the Federal Public Service Finance within two months of signing — via the MyRent online platform or on paper. Until that registration happens, the tenant can walk away from the lease at any time, with no notice and no compensation owed.

Before advertising or renting out the property at all, the landlord also needs a valid EPC (energieprestatiecertificaat / certificat PEB) — the register that issues it, and the accredited expert who has to certify the property, depend on the Region again.

How much deposit you can ask for — and how it has to be held — depends on the property's Region. Flanders allows up to three months' rent (Woninghuurdecreet, art. 37); Brussels caps it at two months regardless of the form chosen, following a reform that took effect on 1 November 2024 — even a bank guarantee spread over time still can't exceed two months; Wallonia has capped it at two months in the same way since 1 June 2023.

In every Region, the money can't be handed to the landlord directly. The tenant chooses, within what that Region allows, between an individualised blocked bank account in their own name, a bank guarantee spread over time, or the regional guarantee fund (such as the Flemish Huurwaarborgfonds) or the local OCMW/CPAS welfare centre. The deposit earns interest for the tenant, paid out when the deposit is released, and it's settled only after the lease ends, based on the entry and exit plaatsbeschrijving.

The tenant's side is simple everywhere: three months' notice at any time. Leaving early can cost an indemnity, though — three, two or one month's rent depending on whether the notice falls in the first, second or third three-year period of the lease.

The landlord has exactly two routes to end the lease before the nine years are up, and each works differently. Ending it for the landlord's own occupation is possible at any point, with six months' notice — though if it's meant to house certain close family members and is given during the first three-year period, it only takes effect once that period ends. Ending it for renovation works, or — in the cases and on the terms each Region sets — without giving any reason at all in exchange for paying an indemnity, is only possible at the close of each three-year period, again with six months' notice. The exact conditions, deadlines and indemnity amounts differ by Region, and depend on the law that applies where the property is located.

A detailed plaatsbeschrijving (état des lieux) isn't optional in Belgium — it's mandatory in all three Regions at the start of a residential lease. It's drawn up either jointly by landlord and tenant or by an independent expert; if an expert is used, the cost is split equally between the two parties under article 1730, §1 of the old Civil Code.

The report is registered together with the lease at the Federal Public Service Finance, and it becomes the key piece of evidence when the deposit is settled at move-out — the exit plaatsbeschrijving is compared directly against it to establish what, if anything, goes beyond normal wear and tear.

Routine maintenance and minor repairs are the tenant's responsibility, following the official list each Region publishes (in Flanders, the annex to the Woninghuurdecreet's implementing decree, backed up by article 1754 of the old Civil Code). The tenant must also carry fire insurance covering at least their own liability as tenant — a requirement under Flemish law (art. 24) with equivalent duties in Brussels and Wallonia — and an agreement between landlord and tenant to waive recourse against each other doesn't get the tenant out of that insurance duty.

The landlord, for their part, keeps the building's installations and shared facilities properly maintained and in working order. Pets are allowed unless they cause a nuisance to the landlord or other occupants, or there's a reasonable ground against them; smoking isn't permitted in the dwelling unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.