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Lease termination letter template for Belgium

Tenant's notice to end a main-residence leaseRenon du bail de résidence principale par le locataire

The tenant's letter that ends a Brussels main-residence lease early. The tenant needs no reason. The notice is 3 months and starts on the first day of the month after the month in which it is given. If the lease ends in its first 3 years, the tenant owes an indemnity of 3, 2 or 1 month's rent.

Use it when you rent your main home in Brussels under a 9-year lease and want to leave before its end. Optional clauses cover a short lease of up to 3 years, the 1-month counter-notice when the landlord has given you notice, and a lease the landlord never registered. To end the lease on its expiry date, the Region publishes separate models. A landlord's notice follows other rules, with a 6-month period.

Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.

Official model: Modèles de renon et de congé, n° 27 (résiliation anticipée par le locataire d'un bail de 9 ans ou plus) et n° 29 (bail de 3 ans ou moins)

Indicative models of the Brussels Region. Using them is optional, provided the rules of the Code are respected.

Key facts

Applies to
Brussels-Capital Region. Flanders has its own rules: 3 months' notice, with an indemnity of 3, 2 or 1 month's rent in years 1 to 3. Wallonia has its own lease law.
Notice for a 9-year lease
3 months, at any time, no reason needed (Brussels Housing Code art. 237, § 5).
Start of the notice period
First day of the month after the month in which notice is given (Brussels model 27).
Indemnity in the first 3 years
3, 2 or 1 month's rent if the lease ends in year 1, 2 or 3. None after year 3 (art. 237, § 5).
Short lease (up to 3 years)
3 months' notice at any time plus 1 month's rent as indemnity (art. 238).
Counter-notice
1 month and no indemnity when the landlord has given notice on a legal ground (art. 237, § 5, al. 3).
Unregistered lease
No notice period and no indemnity while the lease is unregistered 2 months after signature (art. 228/5).
Landlord's notice
6 months: own or family use, major works, or no reason at the end of year 3 or 6 against 9 or 6 months' rent (art. 237, § 2 to § 4).

The document

Text shown

You sign the French version. The English version helps you understand it. Your answers fill both.

Tenant's notice to end a main-residence lease

  1. 1.Heading

    1. 1.1

      Tenant or tenants giving notice, Tenant's address, email and phone. For the attention of Landlord or managing agent, Landlord's or agent's address. Place of writing, Date of writing.

      Use the landlord's address in the lease, or the latest address the landlord notified.

    2. 1.2

      Registered letter. Subject: early termination of the main-residence lease.

      If you hand the letter over, replace this line with "Remis en mains propres" and have the landlord sign and date your copy.

  2. 2.Notice

    1. 2.1

      Dear Sir or Madam, I refer to our lease of the home located at Address of the let home, signed on Date the lease was signed, which started on Start date of the lease.

    2. 2.2

      Optional

      I hereby inform you of my decision to end our lease early, in accordance with article 237, § 5, of the Brussels Housing Code. This notice starts a notice period of three months, which begins on the first day of the month after the month in which it is given. The lease will therefore end on Last day of the lease.

      For a 9-year lease. Keep exactly one of the three notice clauses. The end date is the last day of the third full month after the month you send the letter.

    3. 2.3

      Optional

      I hereby inform you of my decision to end our short lease early, in accordance with article 238 of the Brussels Housing Code. This notice starts a notice period of three months, which begins on the first day of the month after the month in which it is given. The lease will therefore end on Last day of the lease. I will pay you the statutory indemnity of one month's rent.

      For a lease of up to 3 years. The indemnity of one month's rent applies whenever the tenant ends a short lease early, except after a landlord's notice.

    4. 2.4

      Optional

      Following the notice you gave me on Date of the landlord's notice, I in turn end the lease with a one-month counter-notice, in accordance with the Brussels Housing Code. The lease will therefore end on Last day of the lease, with no indemnity payable by me. You remain bound to carry out the ground stated in your notice.

      Only after a landlord's notice on a legal ground. End on the last day of the first full month after you send it. The landlord still owes any indemnity due.

  3. 3.Indemnity

    1. 3.1

      Optional

      As the lease ends during the first three years, I will pay you the statutory indemnity of Indemnity in months of rent months' rent.

      For a 9-year lease only: 3 months if the lease ends in year 1, 2 in year 2, 1 in year 3. Delete it after year 3, for a counter-notice, and for a short lease.

    2. 3.2

      Optional

      As the lease was not registered within two months of its signature, I am bound, under article 228/5 of the Brussels Housing Code, neither to respect the notice period nor to pay an indemnity. I will leave the home on Last day of the lease.

      Use it only if you have checked that the lease is not registered. Then delete the notice-period clauses above.

  4. 4.Exit inventory and deposit

    1. 4.1

      I propose that we carry out the joint exit inventory and the return of the keys on Date for exit inventory and keys. Please confirm this date or propose another one before the end of the notice period.

    2. 4.2

      Please release the rental deposit within the two-month period set by the Brussels Housing Code. My new address is: New address for the deposit release.

  5. 5.Closing and signature

    1. 5.1

      I remain available to agree the practical arrangements for the end of the lease. Yours faithfully. Signature of each tenant: Tenant or tenants giving notice.

      Every tenant who signed the lease must sign.

Formalities

  1. The Brussels Housing Code sets no special form. The Region's models accept a registered letter, with or without acknowledgement of receipt, or a simple letter.
  2. Send it by registered letter, or hand it over against a signed and dated copy, so you can prove the date.
  3. When notice may be given at any time, the 3-month period starts on the first day of the month after the month in which you give notice.
  4. Every tenant who signed the lease signs the notice.
  5. Pay the rent until the end of the notice period.
  6. If the lease is still unregistered 2 months after signature, you owe no notice and no indemnity while that lasts. Still inform the landlord in writing.

Common mistakes

  • Counting 3 months from the day you post the letter. The period starts on the first day of the next month: a letter sent on 15 March ends the lease on 30 June.
  • Sending the notice by plain email or text message with no proof of delivery. If the landlord denies receipt, you cannot prove the start of the notice period.
  • Forgetting the indemnity when the lease ends in its first 3 years. It depends on the year in which the lease ends, not the year in which you send the letter.
  • Having only one of two tenants sign. A tenant who does not sign stays bound by the lease.
  • Stopping the rent and asking the landlord to keep the deposit instead. The Region's model lease forbids using the deposit for rent.
  • Expecting the bank to release a blocked deposit early. It needs a joint written agreement made at the end of the lease, or a court decision (be.brussels).
  • Leaving without an exit inventory or a new address. Ask for a joint exit inventory before you return the keys, and give your new address for the deposit.

Legal basis

Sources

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