Renting an apartment in Belgium is not easy but rather complicated involving lots of things to consider before finalizing an apartment. It can get overwhelming for expats, in the beginning, to go through the process.
A positive point to know is that the rental prices in Belgium are relatively low compared to other European countries. This post breaks down the process in detail to understand all the steps and to finalize an apartment of choice.
Different Mediums to find an apartment
There are 2 ways to find an apartment in Belgium
- First is through Real Estate Agents
- The second is through Online Property Websites such as Immoweb, Spotahome, and BBF
Real Estate Agents:
- Expat can Google real estate agents of their required city and contact the agents through the mentioned contact details in these websites.
- Most of these agents speak multiple languages including English, which is really helpful especially when the house owners are native Dutch or French speakers and these agents can make the communication with such house owners really smooth.
- They are also familiar with different localities and have lots of contacts so can show a lot of good houses that are not even listed on house hunting websites.
- They will even drive to show houses in different parts of the city which is really convenient.
- They will help in all the processes of finalizing the deal with landlords
- It is good to know that it is the homeowners and not the tenants who pay the fees to these real estate agents for their services
Online Property Portals:
Second medium to find the apartments is by searching through online websites. Few of the popular ones are BBF, Immoweb, and Spotahome.
- You need to enter the city name, and filters like budget, no of bedrooms and anything else that you require and the list will appear showing you options with photos and detailed descriptions regarding the estimation of living space in m2, floor, energy consumption.
- The advantage of online websites is that you can shortlist your options even before coming to Belgium and once you arrive, you can start visiting these properties immediately because you did your homework thoroughly.
Types of Apartments in Belgium:
There are 3 types
- Service Apartments
- Furnished Apartments
- Unfurnished Apartments
1. Service Apartments:
- These apartments are fully equipped with amenities that one would require to live comfortably with complete setup of furniture, internet connection, kitchen setup, washing machine, dryer; and in most of the cases, the weekly or monthly cleaning services are also included
- These kinds of apartments can be booked for as short as 15 days and up to a year
- Such service apartments are useful
- When you don’t have much time to find a house and need to move in somewhere immediately
- These apartments are relatively cheaper compared to a hotel or Airbnb
- They are also a good option if you are planning to stay in Belgium for only a few months
- But renting a service apartment is expensive compared to renting an unfurnished house and the rent per month starts from somewhere around 1000 euros. So keep in mind that renting them long-term might not be a very good idea
- But if you are interested, you can check BBF which is an online website specializing in renting service apartments. You can choose from a long list of options and book a service apartment even before arriving in Belgium
2. Furnished Apartments:
- These apartments also include amenities similar to service apartments but you will need to sign a contract which can vary from a period of 1 year to 9 years about which I am going to talk about in this video later
- But such apartments are rare to find
3. Unfurnished Apartments:
- These are common to find and live in for a long term in Belgium
- You need to set up the entire furniture including light fittings, curtains, carpets but it is a one time thing, so for a long term stay it is helpful
- In most of these houses, basic kitchen appliances like fridge and oven are provided along with the home heating system as Belgium is a cold country in general
Cost of Renting
-
To break it down, every month you will pay for 3 things : Cost of renting the place, the Maintenance Fee and lastly the Utilities
-
The rent for an apartment can vary based on where you choose to live and how big of a place you need
- Apartments near city center or in a prime locality are usually expensive as compared to apartments in the outskirts of the city which is common everywhere
- If you are going to live alone you may choose a 1 bedroom apartment or if you live with your family you might have to rent a 2 or a 3 bedroom apartment
- Some might prefer to live near office to avoid commute time but others might be able to travel by a car so, they may decide to live outside the city
- This would vary on case to case basis
On a side note, if you don’t have a car or don’t want to invest in one, you don’t need to worry because Belgium is a bicycle friendly country so, if you are comfortable riding one, I’ll highly recommend it.
-
Now talking about utilities, it includes monthly charges for usage of electricity, heating, water and internet
-
For electricity and gas, there are different energy providers offering package deals, so, that can be choosen accordingly. But it is important to know that the rates for these vendors change depending on the location of apartment.
-
Generally speaking, electricity is the most popular source of heating in Belgian homes but gas is also an option in some homes in the country and it is cheaper compared to electricity. So if your heating system at home is based on gas, you can save a lot per month for utilities.
The following table shows the Rent of An Apartment in various cities of Belgium
Contract
There are four kinds of tenancy agreements in Belgium:
- Short-term (three years or less);
- Nine years (including fixed-term agreements between three and nine years);
- Long-term (more than nine years);
- Lifelong.
The standard option is the 9-year contract which may seem strange but it doesn’t mean that you must stay for an entire period of 9 years.
Typically, expats only undertake either short-term or nine-year contracts.
Short term contract:
- Fixed duration
- Last for no more than three years
- Impose a penalty for giving notice before the end of the contract
- Have a three-month notice period
The penalty for the tenant when giving notice in the first year is three months’ rent, two months in the second year and one month in the third year.
The nine-year contract is standard. A short-term contract converts into a nine-year contract if it renews for a second time or the tenancy continues after three years.
Nine-year contract:
- Allow the tenant to give three-month notice at any time
- But impose a penalty for giving notice in the first three years
- There is a rent increase every three years. Hence, a 9 year contract is referred to as 3-6-9 lease where rent can be increased only at the beginning of each 3 years period
But you should know that even the landlord can give the tenant notice to leave during this contract, because they either intend to occupy the property themselves, or house a family member or undertake major renovation of the house. However, they must give 6 months’ notice to the tenant for evacuating the apartment. There is also often a penalty to the landlord of several months’ rent for giving the tenant notice to leave.
Once you finalize the house, you need to sign a written contract with your landlord. Rental agreements have to be formally registered, so you’ll have to provide a copy of the signed contract to the local registry office to show the deal has been properly concluded. Usually the landlord will do this for you.
Miscellaneous things before moving into the apartment
- Deposit: Deposits are generally 3 months’ worth of rent and a separate account is opened exclusively to store this deposit amount so that it is not incorporated into the landlord’s personal account. And deposit money should only be given using a bank transfer and never cash.
- Inspection: Inspection of the house is also called Inventory. Inventory takes place in the apartment in the presence of both, the landlord and the tenant to inspect the exact condition of the house. Pictures are taken as proof so that by the time the tenant leaves if any damages are done, money will be charged from the deposit. However during the inspection, if any repair work needs to be done, then that is the landlord’s responsibility. Inspection is mandatory and there is a fee for it which is mostly shared by both, the landlord and the tenant.
- Insurance: The tenant will need contents Insurance, and possibly fire and flood insurance depending on the conditions of the rental contract.
You can also watch the YouTube video to know about Renting An Apartment in Belgium
