Choosing your tenant without discriminating

This is the weightiest decision in a landlord's journey, and legally the most exposed. Housing discrimination is prohibited in Belgium by a body of texts: the federal Acts of 10 May 2007 (the Anti-Discrimination Act and the Gender Act) and of 30 July 1981 (so-called "racial" grounds), and, for leases, the regional texts: in Brussels, the Brussels Code on equality, non-discrimination and the promotion of diversity and the Housing Code; in Wallonia and Flanders, their anti-discrimination decrees. They apply to the private rental market as much as to social housing. You cannot contract out of them, not even in your own building.

What the law does not forbid is choosing. You are perfectly entitled to select the candidate with the strongest file. The whole question is what you base that judgement on.

Compatri does not rent out homes and plays no part in your lease: this guide helps you understand your obligations and find the right tools.

1. Protected grounds: what you may not decide on

The list is long, and you need to know it. A refusal may not rest on, among others:

• origin (so-called race, skin colour, descent, national or ethnic origin) and nationality;
• sex, pregnancy, maternity, gender identity and expression;
• age;
• current or future health status, disability, a physical or genetic characteristic;
• civil status and family situation (having children, being a single parent, cohabiting unmarried);
• sexual orientation;
• religious, philosophical or political convictions;
• language;
• social origin and wealth.

One point that directly concerns landlords from diaspora communities: the rule works both ways. Reserving your home for a compatriot is also choosing on origin or nationality, and it is just as prohibited as turning away a foreign candidate.

The last ground on the list, wealth, is the most misunderstood, and the most often breached.

2. Refusing someone on benefits is unlawful

Let us repeat it, because it is the point that produces the most rulings against landlords: refusing a candidate because their income comes from a benefit, social integration income from the CPAS/OCMW, unemployment benefit, income-replacement allowance, disability allowance, pension, is discrimination on grounds of wealth or social origin. It is illegal, however sound the economic reasoning may seem to you. In Brussels, the Housing Code spells it out: neither the origin nor the nature of a candidate's resources may be taken into account to refuse a home.

Wording such as "Employment contract only" or "No benefit recipients" in an ad, in a message, or even over the phone, is written or attestable evidence against you.

What matters is not the source of the income but its amount and its regularity. An invalidity allowance paid for eight years is, in practice, a steadier income than a temp contract. The law asks you to assess the ability to pay, not to sort people by how they earn their living.

3. What you may legitimately assess

Three things, and they are enough:

Solvency

You may ask for the amount of the candidate's financial resources; in Brussels, the standardised application form even accepts a simple estimate. The usual market benchmark, that rent including charges should not exceed about one third of the household's net income, is a practice, not a rule of law. It has no binding force, and it must be used as an indicator, not as an automatic filter.

Why that nuance is essential: applied mechanically, a rigid ratio produces what the law calls indirect discrimination. An apparently neutral criterion that systematically disadvantages a protected group (single-parent families, disabled people, benefit recipients) is unlawful unless it is objectively justified and proportionate. A household on 2,400 € that has paid 850 € for six years without incident is, in reality, a better risk than an executive on 3,500 € still in their probation period.

If income is tight, a guarantor can strengthen the file. The rental deposit, for its part, is capped by law: you cannot offset a doubt by inflating it.

Stability

Seniority in the job or in the income source, regularity of payments, length of previous tenancies. Again: stability is observed, not inferred from a status.

References

Depending on your Region, you may sometimes ask for proof that previous rent was paid or for the previous landlord's details: check the applicable list. In Brussels, the closed list does not include them: you may take them into account if the candidate offers them spontaneously, but you may not demand them. Where it is allowed, contact the previous landlord with the candidate's consent: a three-minute conversation teaches you more than ten documents.

4. What you may NOT ask for

All three Regions restrict the list of information a landlord may request. The spirit is the same everywhere: strictly what is needed to identify the candidate and assess their ability to pay.

• In Brussels, the list is closed and divided by stage, with a standardised application form published by the Region. To arrange a viewing: surname, first name and a means of contact. With the application: the amount of resources (or an estimate) and the number of household members. Before drafting the lease: identity documents and, if the candidate is married or legally cohabiting, their civil status. Nothing else may be requested.
• In Wallonia, a standard form likewise sets out which information may be requested and at what stage.
• In Flanders, the principle is the same: only the documents needed to check that the candidate will be able to meet their obligations as a tenant.

In no Region do you ask for:

• a criminal record extract;
• medical information, a health certificate, the existence of a disability;
• information about pregnancy or plans to have children;
• origin, nationality beyond what identification requires, a photograph;
• religious, political or trade-union affiliation;
• a CPAS/OCMW certificate used to spot benefit recipients;
• a breakdown of spending or complete bank statements;
• the reason for a move or for a separation.

And remember the GDPR: keep only what is necessary, for as long as it is necessary. The files of unsuccessful candidates are deleted once the property is allocated. Do not keep photocopies of ID cards "just in case". To see what a well-prepared candidate will bring you, read our tenant-side guide on building a rental file.

5. Documenting a refusal: your best protection

You are not legally required to give reasons for your refusal. But, and this is decisive, in discrimination matters the burden of proof is shared: if the candidate produces facts giving rise to a presumption of discrimination (figures, a witness, a situation test, a clumsy message), it is for you to prove that your decision rested on a lawful ground. In practice that flips the burden: whoever documented nothing is the one who loses.

Hence the method:

The sanctions are not theoretical. The federal Act of 2007 provides for lump-sum compensation for the victim and an injunction action before the president of the court. In Brussels, the Regional Housing Inspectorate may impose, after a hearing, an administrative fine of 125 to 6,200 €; for intentional discrimination the fine may be multiplied by the number of victims, up to 20,000 €, and the Inspectorate may carry out its own discrimination tests. As the amounts and procedures have been amended several times, check the current state of the law with Unia or the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men. The remedies available to a candidate are set out in our guide to housing discrimination.

6. On a listings site, the decision stays yours

Publishing on a listings site transfers neither the decision nor the responsibility. On Domilinko, a Belgian peer-to-peer rental site, you deal with candidates directly, with no intermediary: owners' identities are verified, listings display a verified PEB/EPC certificate, and the entry inventory is carried out jointly, with photos and meter readings. On general portals such as Immoweb or Immovlan, it is no different: the selection happens on your side.

If you use a spreadsheet or a sorting tool, keep it in its place:

• an income-to-rent ratio may flag a file, never exclude it automatically: used as a filter, it produces indirect discrimination at scale;
• compare documents of the same date: keep each file as it was received, which is exactly what you will need if your decision is challenged;
• look at every candidate before deciding.

An algorithm does not decide for you. The landlord remains sovereign, and therefore responsible. To prepare the letting itself, see our guide to renting out your property.

This article describes a general framework and is not legal advice. If in doubt about a specific situation, contact Unia, the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men, or a lawyer. The lists of information that may be requested, the sanctions and the procedures differ between Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders and change regularly.

Official sources

• Discrimination based on wealth (Unia): why no source of income may be ruled out in advance
• Discrimination in the rental market (be.brussels): the Brussels list and the standardised application form
• Discrimination: protecting your rights as a renter (be.brussels): fines and tests by the Regional Housing Inspectorate
• Standard form for selecting tenants without discriminating in Wallonia (Unia, in French): what may be requested at each stage
• Institute for the Equality of Women and Men: discrimination based on sex and gender