Service charges: provision or flat fee?

Rent and charges are two different things

A lease states a rent and charges. The two amounts do not follow the same rules: rent may, under conditions, be indexed once a year against the health index (see our guide to rent indexation); charges track real costs. Confusing them is the source of nearly every misunderstanding.

The lease must state clearly whether charges are billed as a provision or as a flat fee, and set out what they cover. A clause reading "charges: EUR 150" with nothing further is an invitation to conflict.

In Brussels, this has become a detailed obligation for leases concluded or renewed since 1 November 2024: the lease must list and estimate private and common charges, state whether they are actual costs (possibly with provisions) or a flat fee, give the calculation method and, in a co-owned building, the dwelling's shares. That information must be given as soon as the dwelling is offered for rent, and the tenant pays only the items listed in the lease, apart from exceptional or new charges, at actual cost.

Provision: pay in advance, reconcile later

How it works

The tenant pays an estimated sum each month, an advance. Once a year, the landlord draws up a reconciliation statement: he adds up the costs actually borne on the tenant's behalf, compares them with the provisions paid, and the balance is settled one way or the other.

• Provisions higher than actual costs → the landlord refunds the difference.
• Actual costs higher than provisions → the tenant tops up.

What the statement must contain

A statement is not a number at the bottom of a letter. It must let the tenant verify:

• the breakdown item by item (water, common-area electricity, collective heating, maintenance, lift…);
• the period covered;
• the allocation key applied (shares, floor area, number of occupants, meter readings);
• the total of provisions paid and the balance.

In Brussels, for leases concluded or renewed since 1 November 2024, the rule is precise: a separate statement on the lease's anniversary date, sent within twelve months, with supporting documents; the allocation key is written into the lease and can only be changed by mutual agreement; reminder and debt-collection costs may not be passed on to the tenant.

The right to demand supporting documents

The tenant may ask for the evidence behind the statement: invoices, meter readings, the managing agent's statement for an apartment in co-ownership. All three regional texts lay down the same framework: unless a flat fee has been expressly agreed, charges must match actual expenses, be entered in a separate account, and the documents establishing them must be produced. In a building run by a managing agent, the landlord may simply give you access to the documents. A landlord who refuses to produce his documents is, in practice, a landlord who will not be able to claim the balance.

Formally: written request, then formal notice by registered letter if silence persists, then the justice of the peace, the natural judge for any tenancy dispute. And do not wait: periodic debts become time-barred, and a statement produced years after the fact is fragile.

Flat fee: a fixed amount, full stop

How it works

The tenant pays an agreed, unchanging amount, with no annual reconciliation. No settlement, no refund, no top-up. It is simple, that is its only virtue.

The two risks, facing each other

• The landlord's risk: the flat fee is too low. Energy costs rise and he pays the difference out of pocket. A flat fee is not recalculated mid-course just because it turned out expensive.
• The tenant's risk: the flat fee is too high. He pays every month for consumption he does not have, and he has no refund mechanism, and no receipts to demand, since there is nothing to justify.

The safety valve: conversion

A flat fee is not a prison. In all three Regions, either party may at any time ask the justice of the peace to revise the flat fee or convert it into actual charges. The judge relies in particular on how actual expenses have evolved. The procedure before the justice of the peace is accessible and inexpensive.

Our view, plainly

The provision is fairer; the flat fee is simpler. The provision makes the tenant pay what he actually consumes, and encourages him to consume less. The flat fee rewards nothing and penalises someone, sometimes one party, sometimes the other. It is genuinely defensible in only two cases: very small charges (a student room with a modest, transparent flat fee), or a situation where individual metering is technically impossible.

Who pays what?

The dividing line fits in one sentence: the tenant pays what flows from his use of the dwelling; the owner pays what flows from his ownership of the property. That is, almost word for word, the principle written into the Flemish rental decree.

Typically borne by the tenant (through charges or a direct supply contract): water, electricity, gas, heating, cleaning and upkeep of common areas, minor repairs to common areas, collectively organised waste collection, the annual boiler service.

Borne by the owner: major works and major maintenance (roof, façade, window frames, replacing the boiler), buying or replacing the meters, co-ownership costs relating to capital (reserve fund, works voted at the general meeting), general meeting costs and management fees.

In Flanders, the official list even puts figures on the mixed items, for leases concluded since 1 January 2019: the tenant pays at most 34 % of the managing agent's fees, at most 75 % of caretaker costs and half of periodic lift maintenance; administration and management costs are never his. Elsewhere, the use / ownership principle, and what the lease lists, decide.

Property tax (précompte immobilier) may not be passed on to the tenant of a main-residence lease: all three regional laws prohibit it (in Flanders, for any residential lease concluded since 2019). A clause providing otherwise should be set aside; check your Region's text for the exact wording.

Finally, note: the precise allocation is set by the regional texts (Brussels, Wallonia, Flanders). Do not copy a generic "Belgian" list found online. Repairs follow their own list: see our guide repairs: who pays for what?.

Individual meters settle half the disputes

Whenever technically possible, insist on individual meters (water, gas, electricity) and a supply contract in the tenant's name. Immediate benefits:

• the tenant pays exactly his consumption, with no contestable allocation key;
• the landlord advances nothing and reconciles nothing;
• there is no more argument about "who heated how much".

In a building with collective heating, heat cost allocators fitted to the radiators do the same job, imperfectly, but usefully.

And in every case: record the meter readings on entry and on exit, with the meter numbers, in the inventory, with photos (see our guide to the entry and exit inventory). Some peer-to-peer rental platforms do this by default: on Domilinko, a Belgian site with no intermediary, the entry and exit inventory includes photos and meter readings. A reading forgotten on entry always costs more than the time it would have taken.

The habit that prevents everything

Before signing, as early as the viewing (see getting the most out of a viewing), ask the landlord three questions:

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 turn to. The rules on charges differ between Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders: always check those of your Region.

Official sources

• Brussels: residential leases : the regional pages on leases, indexation and registration.
• Brussels: brochure "Un mauvais bail, ça peut faire mal" : the charges regime, including the rules for leases concluded since 1 November 2024 (PDF, in French).
• Wallonia: décret du 15 mars 2018 relatif au bail d'habitation : the Walloon text on charges and property tax (Wallex, in French).
• Flanders: kosten en lasten : provision, flat fee, supporting documents and property tax in Flanders (in Dutch).
• Justice of the peace : the court competent to revise a flat fee or settle a statement dispute (in French).