Rental lease
real estate

The rental lease is a fixed-term rental contract for real estate signed between a lessor and a tenant. The lease contract sets the rules for renting the property leased. The lessee pays rent to the lessor in exchange for the use of the leased property.

Since 2018, the lease contract has become regional. Each of the three Belgian regions has established its own regional housing code. Each administrative region of Belgium has established its own rental lease model.

The rental lease must contain certain mandatory information in order to comply with Belgian federal law in this area. The lease must at least specify the following points:

• the lessor’s personal information, full identity and address;
• the personal information of the tenant, therefore his full identity and his address;
• the address and detailed description of the rental property;
• the start date of the rental period and the duration of the rental lease;
• the precise amount of the monthly rent and an estimate of the related charges;
• the date of signature of the rental lease and the signature of all the parties to the contract.

All the additional information indicated in the rental lease makes it possible to specify the contract of engagement between the lessor and the tenant.

The rental guarantee is not a mandatory condition of the rental lease but there is a paragraph on the guarantees of the tenant in almost all rental leases in Belgium.

In Belgium there is no longer a lease of indefinite duration. The lease must have a fixed term. The law has defined as a principle a duration of 9 years for the main residence lease in Belgium.

The law also allows under certain conditions to establish a short-term lease (lease lasting less than 3 years) or a long-term lease (lease lasting more than 9 years) for the main residence lease.

Main residence lease

The main residence lease is the rental agreement that concerns the main residence of the tenant. To qualify as a principle residence lease, the lease contract must meet three mandatory conditions:

• The rental contract must be a residential lease. This means that the tenant declares to live in the rented property;
• The tenant must also declare that it is his main residence. So the tenant mainly lives in this dwelling;
• The lessor agrees to the main residence assignment of the property.

Being a principal residence rental lease provides several protections for the tenant. Belgian law obliges the lessor to comply with additional rules concerning the rented property concerning the safety, health and conditions of habitability of the rented property. The rules for the duration and extension of the main residence lease are also set by law to protect tenants.

Common law lease

Furnished rental lease

Unfurnished rental lease

The registration of the lease and its annexes is done with the Federal Public Service of Finance in Belgium. Registration can be done in two ways:

• Either by going physically to one of the competent offices of the federal service, the list of which you will find on the Myminfin site;
• Either by Internet without moving by going to the MyRent online application. The process is quite simple, you are asked to provide the documents to be saved in pdf file format.

If you are looking for a sample rental lease to download, here are free sample rental leases that comply with the regional housing code.

Rental lease model for Brussels: Pdf file to download from the official website logement.brussels.