Residential lease agreement template for Belgium

The landlord: Landlord, hereinafter "the landlord".

Give full name, date and place of birth, address, email and phone. For a company: name, registered office, enterprise number and signatory.

The tenant: Tenant, hereinafter "the tenant".

Give each tenant's full name, date and place of birth, current address, email and phone.

Optional

The tenants are jointly and severally liable for all the obligations under this lease.

Keep it when a couple signs together. For unrelated co-tenants, use the Region's shared-tenancy model, which has its own exit rules.

The landlord lets to the tenant, who accepts, the home located at Address of the home, comprising Rooms and parts let, with a living area of Living area m², hereinafter "the home".

Give box and floor so the address identifies the home. List every room and outbuilding let, as the Code requires, and say if the home is furnished.

The energy performance of the home is class Energy class on the PEB certificate. The PEB certificate is attached to this lease.

Optional

As the home is part of a co-ownership, the tenant undertakes to comply with the statutes and the internal rules, of which the relevant extracts have been given to him. The decisions of the general meeting are binding on him.

Keep it for a flat in a co-owned building.

The home is let as the tenant's main residence. The tenant may not change this use without the landlord's prior written consent. The landlord may not forbid the tenant to register his domicile at the home.

Optional

The tenant may not use any part of the home for a professional activity.

Delete it if you allow part-time professional use, and then state the share of rent and charges that relates to it.

This lease is made for a term of nine years, starting on Start date of the lease and ending on End date after 9 years. It ends at expiry if either party gives notice at least six months before that date. Otherwise it is extended each time for three years, on the same terms.

A main-residence lease written for more than 3 but less than 9 years is treated as a 9-year lease.

The landlord may end the lease early in the cases and on the conditions of article 237, § 2 to § 4, of the Brussels Housing Code: at any time, with six months' notice, to live in the home himself or house a relative there; at the end of the first or second three-year period, with six months' notice, to carry out major works or without reason, in the latter case against an indemnity of nine or six months' rent.

The parties may agree to exclude or limit these rights of the landlord. Each ground has strict proof and deadline rules.

The tenant may end the lease at any time with three months' notice. If the lease ends during the first three years, the tenant owes the landlord an indemnity of three months', two months' or one month's rent, depending on whether the lease ends in the first, second or third year.

When the landlord ends the lease under article 237, § 2 to § 4, the tenant may in turn end it at any time with one month's notice and without indemnity.

When notice may be given at any time, the notice period starts on the first day of the month after the month in which notice is given. In other cases it starts on the day the recipient is presumed to have learned of the notice.

The basic monthly rent, excluding charges, is Monthly rent excluding charges euros. It is payable no later than day Day of the month the rent is due of each month, only by transfer or deposit to bank account no. Landlord's bank account (IBAN).

The Code requires payment to a bank account and the account number in the lease. Cash rent is not allowed.

The reference rent of the home, or the rent range around it, according to the indicative rent grid, is Reference rent or rent range.

Rent over 20% above the reference rent is presumed abusive. The joint rent commission (commission paritaire locative) or the justice of the peace can review it.

Optional

Any sum due and unpaid on the due date bears interest at the legal rate from the formal demand for payment.

Do not add a fixed penalty or a higher rate. The Code bans indemnity clauses for late rent.

The rent may be adjusted to the cost of living once per year of the lease, on the anniversary of its start, at the written request of the interested party, using the formula: basic rent × new index / base index. The base index is the health index of the month before the lease was signed, namely Health index, month before signature. The new index is the health index of the month before the anniversary of the lease's start.

Statbel publishes the health index and an indexation calculator.

Indexation applies to the past only for the three months before the month of the request. It is due only if the lease has been registered and the PEB certificate has been given to the tenant.

Optional

In addition to the rent, the tenant pays a monthly provision of Monthly provision for charges euros for the following charges, which correspond to actual costs: Charges covered. The charges are split as follows: How charges are split. On each anniversary of the lease, the landlord prepares a separate statement of the past year's charges, which he sends to the tenant within twelve months with the supporting documents.

Keep this clause for actual charges with a provision, or the next one for flat-rate charges. One must stay. Only items listed in the lease can be charged.

Optional

The charges are set at a flat rate of Flat-rate monthly charges euros per month, payable with the rent. Either party may at any time ask the court to revise them or convert them into actual charges.

The home has the following individual meters: Individual meters. The readings are recorded in the entry inventory. The tenant bears the costs directly linked to his consumption.

Give the type, number and EAN code of each water, gas and electricity meter.

The property tax (précompte immobilier) may not be charged to the tenant.

The fees of a third party for letting the home are payable by the landlord, unless the tenant commissioned the agent.

Before taking possession and receiving the keys, the tenant provides a deposit of Deposit euros, which may not exceed two months' rent, in the following form, chosen by him: Form of the deposit.

The tenant chooses the form among the five in the Code. The landlord cannot require cash in his own account. The amount is at most 2 months' rent.

When the deposit is held in an individual account, the interest accrues to the tenant. The parties may not use the deposit to pay rent or charges during the lease.

The deposit is released on a written agreement of the parties made no earlier than the end of the lease, or on a court decision. Unless there is a dispute, it is released within two months of the return of the keys.

In a building managed by one syndic, part of the deposit may stay blocked until the annual accounts are closed.

The parties draw up together, sharing the cost, a detailed entry inventory, before the tenant moves in or during the first month of occupation. It includes the meter readings and the meter numbers and EAN codes. It is attached to this lease and registered with it.

Optional

The parties jointly appoint Expert for the inventories to draw up the entry and exit inventories. The expert's fees are shared equally.

An expert is optional. The parties can draw up the inventory themselves with the Region's indicative model.

Either party may require a joint exit inventory at shared cost, drawn up after the tenant has vacated and before the keys are returned, and no later than one month after the tenant has vacated. The tenant returns the home as he received it, except for what has perished or deteriorated through wear and tear or force majeure.

The tenant carries out minor maintenance and tenant's repairs, except those caused by wear and tear or force majeure. The landlord carries out all other necessary repairs. The parties refer to the non-exhaustive list set by the Brussels Government order of 23 November 2017.

The tenant informs the landlord without delay of any damage and of any repair the landlord must carry out.

The tenant is liable for fire and water damage, unless he proves that it occurred without his fault. Unless otherwise agreed, he insures this liability before moving in and provides proof of payment each year.

If the tenant gives no proof within a month of a request, the landlord may add a waiver-of-recourse clause to his own policy and pass its cost on to the tenant.

Optional

The tenant may keep pets in the home on the following conditions: Conditions for pets.

A clause that simply bans all pets is void. The lease may require that pets cause no nuisance and may limit their number or species for reasonable motives.

If the home is put up for sale, the landlord informs the tenant by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt before any sale. A tenant who has his domicile in the home has the right of preference under articles 247/1 et seq. of the Brussels Housing Code.

At the end of the lease or if the home is put up for sale, the tenant allows notices to be posted and the home to be visited by candidates, on days and at times to be agreed between the parties. During the lease, the landlord may visit the home by appointment, except in an emergency.

The landlord registers this lease, its annexes and the entry inventory free of charge within two months of signature, on the regional Irisrent platform and the federal MyRent platform, and gives the tenant proof of registration.

As long as the lease has not been registered after this two-month period, the notice periods and indemnities owed by the tenant do not apply.

The tenant can then leave without notice or indemnity, but should still inform the landlord in writing.

This lease is governed by the Brussels Housing Code. Without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the competent justice of the peace, the parties may use mediation or another alternative dispute resolution method. Any arbitration clause agreed before a dispute arises is void.

The parties also agree as follows: Special conditions.

A special condition cannot override a mandatory rule of the Code. If in doubt, check it against the explanatory annex.

The tenant acknowledges receipt of the following annexes: the explanatory annex drawn up by the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, the PEB certificate, the entry inventory and, where relevant, the extracts of the co-ownership statutes and internal rules.

Made at Place of signature, on Date of signature, in Number of originals originals, one for each party with a distinct interest and one for registration. Signatures of the landlord and the tenant.