Renting out your property: the complete guide

Renting out a home in Belgium is not just a matter of posting photos and waiting. Since residential lease law was regionalised, Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders each have their own text: the Brussels ordinance of 27 July 2017 (part of the Brussels Housing Code), the Walloon decree of 15 March 2018 on residential leases, and the Flemish Woninghuurdecreet, in force since 1 January 2019. The broad principles look alike, but the details, deadlines, thresholds, penalties, diverge. This guide follows your project chronologically and flags, at each step, where your Region goes its own way. It covers long-term letting; for holiday lets, see our article on short-term rentals.

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. First things first: a compliant home

Housing quality and safety standards

Each Region sets minimum requirements on safety, health and equipment. A dwelling that fails them may not be let, and letting it anyway exposes you to administrative penalties, up to a ban on renting.

• In Brussels, the Regional Housing Inspectorate enforces these requirements and can prohibit the letting of a non-compliant property.
• In Wallonia, the Code wallon de l'Habitation durable sets the health criteria. Note that a rental permit (permis de location) is required for certain categories, notably small individual dwellings and collective housing (including many student rooms). Ask your municipality whether your property falls within scope.
• In Flanders, the housing quality standards of the Vlaamse Codex Wonen apply. The conformity certificate (conformiteitsattest) is not compulsory everywhere, but several cities impose it on all or part of the rental stock. Check with your municipality.

Do not take these standards lightly: they cover concrete things, damp, ventilation, ceiling height, natural light, stair safety, gas and electrical installations.

Smoke detectors

All three Regions require smoke detectors in dwellings. The landlord installs and pays for them; routine upkeep (replacing batteries) is in principle the tenant's. The number required and the placement rules differ from one Region to the next: consult your Region's official source rather than relying on a single "Belgian" rule, there isn't one.

Electricity and heating

An inspection of the electrical installation by an approved body is explicitly required when a home is sold. For renting, the obligation takes another form: the installation must simply be safe and compliant with your Region's housing quality standards, which is exactly what regional inspections look at. In practice: if your installation is old and you hold no inspection report, have it checked. It is the single most common reason a home is declared unfit.

As for the boiler, periodic servicing is mandatory, at a frequency that depends on the Region and on the type of installation (an oil-fired boiler is generally inspected more often than a gas one). You must be able to produce the servicing certificate.

The energy performance certificate (PEB / EPC)

This is the condition that blocks everything else: no rental listing may be published without the mandatory energy statements. It is called certificat PEB in Brussels and Wallonia, EPC in Flanders. It is valid for 10 years, drawn up by an accredited assessor, and a copy must be given to the tenant. Enforcement is real: in Flanders, offering a home for rent without a valid EPC exposes you to a fine of 500 to 5,000 €, and paying the fine does not exempt you from getting the certificate. The details are in our article on the energy certificate in listings; remember here that you order it before going live, not during.

2. The lease: written, complete, registered

A main-residence lease must be in writing in all three Regions, and must state at least the parties' identities, the description of the property, the rent, the term and the start date. Brussels and Wallonia also require a regional explanatory annex summarising the parties' rights and duties; in Flanders, the former federal annex on quality standards is no longer compulsory. Start from your Region's model lease and official guidance. In Brussels, the lease must also state the reference rent for the home, alongside the rent actually charged: more on this in our guide to setting the rent. Possible lease terms and their exit rules are covered in the article on the main-residence lease.

Registration of the lease is currently handled by the FPS Finance, including for properties in Brussels. Three things to remember:

The inventory of fixtures is registered together with the lease. And if you don't register? The sanction bites: the tenant may then leave the property without serving notice and without paying any indemnity. An unregistered lease is a fragile lease, for you, not for them. The step-by-step procedure is in our article on lease registration.

3. The entry inventory of fixtures

It is mandatory in all three Regions, and must be detailed and joint: drawn up together, or by an expert appointed by mutual agreement (whose fee is then split in half). Without a serious entry inventory, you will have practically no way of justifying a deduction from the rental deposit at the end. It is the most profitable document you will ever sign. Method, photos, meter readings: see our guide to the inventory of fixtures.

4. Writing a listing that attracts the right candidates

A good listing does not try to maximise the number of enquiries: it tries to maximise the number of relevant enquiries. Every pointless viewing costs you an evening.

What the listing must state

• The rent asked and the amount of the common charges. Any public announcement of a property for rent must state them; in Brussels and Wallonia, the municipality can punish the omission with an administrative fine (50 to 200 €).
• The energy statements from the PEB/EPC certificate: at least the class or score and, depending on the Region, other data from the certificate.

The photos that matter

• Natural light, blinds up, lamps on. Shoot in daylight, never with flash.
• Tidy and empty. A cluttered home looks small. Remove bins, bath mats, cleaning products.
• One photo per room, from a corner, at chest height, with a reasonable wide angle. No extreme distortion: a candidate who feels misled at the viewing will not sign.
• Don't forget what reassures: the boiler, the meters, the bike store, the cellar, the laundry room, the garden, the view from the window.
• A dimensioned floor plan, even hand-drawn and scanned, raises the quality of applications: it naturally filters out those the property doesn't suit.

The text

Tell the truth, in the order people look for it: property type, floor area, number of bedrooms, floor and lift, heating and energy, PEB/EPC class, rent, amount and nature of the charges, availability date, desired lease term. Say what is included and what is not. Mention the drawbacks that will be obvious anyway (no lift on the third floor, busy street): you will lose three candidates and win the trust of the rest.

And above all: never write a selection criterion into the ad. "No students", "employment income only", "no large families": such wording is unlawful under Belgian law and constitutes written evidence against you. We return to this in the article on choosing a tenant and in our guide to housing discrimination.

5. Where to publish your listing

Once everything is in order, you still have to choose where to publish. Domilinko is a Belgian peer-to-peer rental site 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. The large general property portals, Immoweb and Immovlan, also carry listings from private landlords.

Whichever site you use, it does not relieve you of any of the obligations above: you, the landlord, remain answerable for the energy certificate, the compliance of the home, the lease and its registration. And you choose the tenant, using a grid set in advance.

Checklist before publishing

The deadlines, thresholds and penalties mentioned here evolve. Before any binding decision, check the rule currently in force with your Region's official source: the main ones are listed below.

Official sources

• Energy performance certificate (EPC) for sale or rent of a dwelling (Flanders.be): EPC duties, statements in ads, fines
• Key rules for renting (be.brussels): minimum standards and registration in Brussels
• Registering a lease (FPS Finance, in French): free registration via MyRent within two months
• The PEB certificate of a Brussels home (Brussels Environment, in French): when the certificate is required
• SPW Logement (Walloon housing administration, in French): residential leases, housing standards and rental permits in Wallonia