Rental expenses
in Belgium

Any occupied apartment necessarily generates rental charges. There are two kinds of charges:

• rental charges relating to the dwelling;
• common expenses.

In Belgium, unlike most other countries, there is no clearly defined list of charges to be shared between the lessor and the lessee, so it’s important to pay particular attention to this when signing the lease. When the lease is signed, the tenant’s charges must be identical to the actual charges. The lessor must provide the lessee with a statement of charges. If the amounts do not match, you will need to adjust the charges.

Under article 1728ter of the French Civil Code, the lessor is obliged to submit a statement of charges. This article states that“costs and expenses must be shown in a separate account”.

The lessor is obliged to provide a detailed breakdown of charges, so that the lessee can check which charges are really his responsibility. The tenant is entitled to ask his landlord for proof of rental charges at the time of the annual adjustment.

Some apartments are located in a multi-apartment building managed by a single person. In this case, tenants can consult the documents at the manager’s head office.

The law does not specify a frequency of charges that the lessor must submit to the owner. In general, leases are drafted in such a way that accounts are drawn up on an annual basis. If the tenant makes monthly payments, at the end of the year the charges must correspond to the actual expenditure, and an adjustment in favor of the lessor or the tenant may be envisaged.

Article 1728ter of the French Civil Code stipulates that the lessor must reimburse any excess provisions for charges he has collected, upon simple written request from the lessee. All lease contracts are drafted in this way, and there are no specific cases to the contrary.

In most cases, leases stipulate an automatic adjustment of charges in both directions, thus avoiding misunderstandings. That’s why it’s important to check that your lease includes the following clause: “On receipt of the statement of charges, the lessor or lessee will immediately pay the other party the difference between the provisions paid and the actual charges”.

Please note: Provisions may be adjusted within 5 years of the last payment.

It all depends on the type of lease. An increase in the provision may be made during the term of the lease if this was mentioned when the lease was signed. The amount can be revised according to actual expenditure based on the previous year. To avoid the hassle of year-end service charge reminders, the landlord can offer a monthly service charge adjustment.

The extent of the warranty varies depending on the lease. In theory, the landlord can take the charges from the rental deposit you have paid. This is one of the purposes of the rental guarantee. It guarantees the owner in the event of :

• Damage to the rental property ;
• Unpaid or partially paid rent;
• Adjustment of charges or charges not paid by the tenant.

In conclusion, the Civil Code provides a legal framework to ensure that neither the lessee nor the lessor find themselves in uncomfortable situations. However, it’s important to bear in mind that the most important thing is the lease that has been drawn up.

That’s why you need to be particularly careful when reading and signing the lease. This avoids many complications later on.

If you have any questions about the lease, don’t hesitate to ask us to explain them to you. Depending on the situation, compromises between lessor and lessee can be envisaged to bring everyone to an agreement. In this case, it goes without saying that a new lease will have to be drawn up and signed jointly.