For tenantsThe student lease in Belgium: term, termination, kot, parental guarantor
A regime of its own, different in all three Regions: a term aligned with the academic year, a framed early exit, subletting, kot versus studio, and what a parental guarantor actually signs.
Founder · Compatri, the social network for diasporas
Compatri does not rent out housing and plays no part in your lease: this guide helps you understand your rights and find the right people to talk to.
Renting a kot is not renting a flat. Each of the three Belgian Regions has created its own student-lease regime, precisely because student life does not fit a nine-year lease: you move in in September, leave in June, change city, sometimes drop out mid-year. The common thread: a short lease, in practice aligned with the academic year. Everything else, maximum term, notice, indemnity, subletting, differs by Region, and that is where you read your contract and the regional text rather than a forum.
Who the student lease applies to
The regime applies only if you are actually a student and the property serves your studies. In practice, the landlord may ask for a certificate of enrolment at an educational institution. That is not an intrusion: it is the condition for applying a regime that protects you.
Careful: a property occupied by a student is not automatically under a student lease. If what you are handed is an ordinary main-residence lease, the ordinary rules apply: a nine-year term, three months' notice plus an indemnity if you leave in the first three years. Check the heading and the content.
The term: short, but not the same everywhere
- Brussels: twelve months at most; a longer contract falls under another regime. If you stay on without the landlord objecting, the lease is extended by one year on the same terms. The landlord can only end it at expiry, with at least three months' notice.
- Wallonia: twelve months, or less if the lease says so. It ends at expiry with one month's notice from either party; otherwise it is extended by one year on the same terms.
- Flanders: the decree sets no term, the contract chooses it (often ten or twelve months). The lease ends on the agreed date, and a tacit-renewal clause is deemed unwritten.
In none of the three Regions does a student lease become a nine-year lease. What counts are the dates written in your contract: if you stay another year, put it in writing.
Leaving early: the point to check in YOUR Region
This is the question everyone asks, and the one where the three Regions made genuinely different choices:
| Region | When the student may leave | Notice | Indemnity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels | at any time | 2 months | none |
| Brussels, before moving in | up to one month before moving in, for good reasons | none | 1 month's rent |
| Wallonia | at any time, but no later than 15 March | 2 months | 3 months' rent, with exceptions |
| Flanders | only before the lease starts, on stopping your studies, or on the death of a parent | 2 months (stopping studies, death) | none, unless you cancel less than 3 months before the start: 2 months' rent |
In Wallonia, the three-month indemnity is not due if, within a month of your notice, you produce a refusal or inadmissibility of enrolment, or a certificate that you have abandoned your studies; if you assign the lease before the notice ends, with the landlord's written agreement; or on the death of a parent or of the person providing for you. In that last case, notice is still possible after 15 March.
In Flanders, outside the three cases in the table, the student cannot end the lease before its term. Stopping your studies is proven with a deregistration certificate from the institution.
Two reflexes: re-read the termination clause in your lease, which must follow the regime of the Region where the kot is, not your home Region or country; and if in any doubt, have it checked by your institution's housing service.
Subletting: the Erasmus and internship fix
Going abroad for a semester, or on placement far from your university town? Two Regions have provided for it:
- Wallonia: you may sublet to another student if your studies take you more than a month away from your usual place of study (Erasmus, internship), with proof. Send your plan to the landlord by registered post: if he does not refuse within two months, his agreement is presumed.
- Flanders: subletting and assignment are prohibited without the landlord's prior written consent, but for a study exchange or an internship he can only object on well-founded grounds (a replacement who is not a student, or cannot pay, for example).
- Brussels: get the landlord's written agreement before any subletting, and read what your lease says.
In every case you remain the principal tenant: you answer to the owner for the rent and any damage, whatever the subtenant does. Draw up a sublease, with an inventory and meter readings between the two of you. Otherwise you will pay for what they break.
Kot, studio, flatshare: not the same contract
The kot, strictly speaking: a room in a house or building, with shared kitchen and bathroom. Usually an individual lease per room: you are not liable for the other occupants' debts.
The studio or flat: you are the sole tenant of the whole. Check that the contract really is a student lease and not a main-residence lease, whose exit rules are very different.
A student flatshare on a joint lease signed by several of you: beware, the solidarity clause can make you liable for the entire rent if a flatmate drops out. It is the costliest and least-read point in student leases, covered in our flatsharing guide.
The parental guarantor
Almost no student has the income a landlord expects. Hence the guarantor, usually a parent, who personally undertakes to pay if you do not.
What to understand, and to explain to your parents before they sign (see also guarantors and joint sureties):
- a joint-and-several surety lets the landlord claim directly from the guarantor, without first pursuing you;
- it must be written and precise: maximum amount guaranteed, duration, what is covered (rent, charges, damage);
- it does not run forever: an undertaking drafted for "the term of the lease and its renewals" deserves close reading, a parent may want it limited to the current academic year, renewable if need be;
- the documents requested from the guarantor (ID, income) are subject to the same limits as yours: no criminal record, no health data.
A hesitant guarantor can offer an alternative: a bank guarantee, or lodging the rental deposit in one payment. In Flanders, the deposit for a student lease may not exceed two months' rent. With no guarantor at all, approach your institution's social service and the municipality's public welfare centre (CPAS/OCMW): solutions exist, and a refusal based on the source of your income may amount to housing discrimination.
Energy certificate and housing standards, kot included
Two things often forgotten:
- The energy performance certificate (PEB in French, EPC in Dutch) is required when a dwelling is let, and its data must appear in the listing (the mandatory EPC). For a studio or flat that is clear-cut; for a single room in a shared house, the obligations vary by Region. Ask for the energy rating anyway: a poorly insulated kot means a heating bill that can wipe out the saving on rent.
- Housing-quality standards are a regional matter, and sometimes municipal: several university cities run their own scheme for student housing. Brussels has a "quality student housing" label. A kot without ventilation, without a smoke detector, or overcrowded can be declared unfit. The municipality is the right port of call.
Finding a kot, getting help
Your institution's housing service is the first port of call: listings, lease checks, knowledge of local pitfalls. In Brussels, Brik brings together information and housing offers for students. If you are rather looking for a studio or flat let directly by its owner, Domilinko is a Belgian peer-to-peer rental site with no intermediary: listings carry a verified EPC certificate, owners' identities are verified, and the move-in inspection is done jointly, with photos and meter readings. In June, that is what stops you paying for your predecessor's stain.
Arriving from abroad? Our guide to studying far from home covers the first weeks' formalities.
Before you sign
Official sources
- Flanders.be: student tenancy agreements: the Flemish student-lease rules, with the official brochure.
- Brussels-Capital Region: rental contracts guide: official model leases for Brussels, including the student lease.
- SPW Logement: model student lease with its explanatory annex: the Walloon regime, including the 15 March deadline (in French).
- ULB: accommodation: housing advice and resources for students in Brussels.
- UCLouvain: accommodation: the university's housing service.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a student lease last?
In Brussels, twelve months at most, extended by a year if you stay on without the landlord objecting. In Wallonia, twelve months or less, extended by a year if no one gives one month's notice at expiry. In Flanders, the decree sets no term and the lease ends on the agreed date, with no tacit renewal. It never becomes a nine-year lease: check the exact dates in your contract.
Can I leave my kot mid-year if I drop out?
Yes, in all three Regions, but on different terms. In Brussels you can leave at any time with two months' notice and no indemnity, whether or not you stop studying. In Wallonia notice is two months and must be given by 15 March; the three-month indemnity is not due if you prove, within a month of your notice, that you have abandoned your studies. In Flanders, stopping your studies lets you terminate with two months' notice and no indemnity, on proof of deregistration.
Can I sublet my kot during my Erasmus?
Often, yes. In Wallonia you may sublet to another student if your studies take you away for more than a month; the landlord's agreement is presumed if he does not refuse within two months of your registered letter. In Flanders, for an exchange or internship, the landlord can only refuse subletting or assignment on well-founded grounds. In Brussels, get his written agreement. Everywhere, you remain the principal tenant: the subtenant's unpaid rent or damage will be claimed from you.
Does a kot need an energy certificate?
For a studio or flat, yes: the energy performance certificate (PEB in French, EPC in Dutch) is required when it is let, and its data must appear in the listing. For a single room in a shared house, the obligations vary by Region. Either way, ask for the energy rating rather than an oral estimate: the gap between a C and a G is paid every winter.
Do my parents have to act as guarantors, and for how much?
It is not a legal obligation, but most landlords require it of a student with no income. The undertaking must be written and precise: maximum amount guaranteed, duration, and what it covers (rent, charges, damage). A joint-and-several surety lets the landlord claim directly from the parent. With no guarantor, discuss a bank guarantee, or ask your institution's social service and the public welfare centre.