Viewing a rental: the checklist that avoids bad surprises

A viewing lasts twenty minutes. It often commits you for several years, with a rental deposit and an energy bill you will pay every month. There is no second chance: once the lease is signed and the inspection done, what you failed to see becomes your problem. Here is what to actually look at, what to ask, and how to spot a scam. If you are still searching, start with our guide to finding a home in Belgium.

Before you go

• Reread the ad and note: rent, charges (fixed sum or provisions?), energy rating (EPC/PEB), floor area, storey, availability. In Belgium the energy class must appear in every rental listing: an ad with no rating is already a bad sign. Our guide to the EPC in listings explains what it must show.
• Look up the address on a map: real distance to the stop, the station, the shops, the school. Then switch to satellite view: what is behind the building?
• Check internet coverage at the address on the operators' sites. A missing fibre connection is otherwise discovered too late.
• Prepare your file (see below): good files get picked the same day.

On site: what costs money

1. Damp, defect number one

The most common, the most expensive and the hardest to get fixed. Look for:

• black spots or fuzz in cold corners, behind furniture, above window frames, on the bathroom ceiling;
• saltpetre (powdery white deposit) or blistered paint low on the walls, especially on the ground floor and in the cellar: rising damp;
• a musty smell: open a closed cupboard, the cellar. The smell does not lie;
• one freshly repainted wall among old ones, or furniture oddly pushed against a wall: ask to move it;
• a dehumidifier in a corner: that answers the question;
• ventilation: are there air vents in the window frames, a mechanical ventilation unit, an extractor hood venting outside? A well-insulated but unventilated home grows mould.

Visit, if you can, in cold or wet weather: that is when thermal bridges show.

2. The EPC, what you will pay every month

The certificate gives a consumption in kWh/m² per year and a class. Two honest warnings:

• The scales and calculation methods differ between Regions. A Walloon "C", a Brussels "C" and a Flemish "C" do not cover exactly the same thing. Compare the figure in kWh/m²/year instead.
• That figure is theoretical primary energy, computed on standardised use. It rates the building; it does not predict your bill.

Even so, the order of magnitude speaks. Take the specific consumption, multiply by the floor area, then by the price per kWh of your energy:

• 80 m² at 350 kWh/m²/yr = 28,000 kWh/yr;
• 80 m² at 100 kWh/m²/yr = 8,000 kWh/yr.

A ratio of one to three and a half. On a heating bill that means hundreds of euros a year, sometimes over a thousand. The price per kWh varies a lot: use today's tariff.

The question worth more than any certificate: "May I see the energy bills for the last two years?" Actual consumption is the best predictor.

The rating also weighs on the rent: in Brussels, a landlord who has not given you a valid EPC certificate may not index the rent, and each Region has its own rules for poorly rated homes. See our guide to rent indexation.

3. The windows

• Single or double glazing? Hold a small flame near the glass: two reflections = single glazing, four = double.
• Condensation between the two panes = the seal is dead. The glazing no longer insulates.
• Open and close every window: does it jam? Is the seal crushed? Is the bottom of a wooden frame soft (rot)?
• Do you feel a draught running your hand around the frame?

4. Heating and hot water

• Which system? Condensing gas boiler, oil, electric (storage) heating, heat pump, collective heating. Direct electric heating is the most expensive to run: that is a negotiating point.
• How old is the boiler? Read the data plate.
• Ask for the last maintenance certificate and its date. Periodic servicing is compulsory, but its frequency differs by Region and fuel (typically yearly for oil, every two or three years for gas). A missing or five-year-old certificate says a lot about how the property is managed.
• A gas appliance in a room where people sleep? Ask. In Brussels, the minimum quality standards in force since 1 January 2026 notably ban type B gas appliances, which draw air from the room, in bedrooms, because of the carbon monoxide risk.
• Turn on the taps. How long before the hot water arrives? Test the shower while another tap runs: does pressure hold? In a flatshare, a small boiler kills the second morning shower.
• Touch the radiators and spot the rooms that have none.

5. Electrics and safety

• Count the sockets per room (old flats have three).
• Look at the consumer unit: modern breakers and an RCD, or porcelain fuses? The latter signals a very old installation.
• Ask whether an electrical inspection has been carried out and whether it is compliant.
• Each Region imposes safety, health and equipment standards on rented housing and has an inspection service. In Brussels, the 2026 standards also require, among other things, a shower or bath and a minimum floor area (18 m² for one person). In Wallonia, a small home of 28 m² or less, a student room or shared housing must also hold a rental permit (permis de location). In Flanders, ask whether the home has a certificate of conformity (conformiteitsattest). Obviously dangerous housing may not be let: report it.

6. Meters and charges

• Are the meters (water, gas, electricity) individual? A shared meter means an allocation by shares, and endless arguments.
• Are the charges a fixed sum or provisions with an annual statement? Provisions with a statement are the healthier norm: ask for the statements for the last two years.
• What exactly do they cover (water, collective heating, common areas, lift, building manager)? Our guide to rental charges sets it out.

7. Noise, light, neighbourhood

• Stop talking and listen for thirty seconds: traffic, neighbours, the lift, the ventilation of the shop downstairs.
• Orientation: open the compass on your phone. A north-facing living room will never see the sun.
• Come back a second time, at another hour (an evening, a Saturday). The lovely bar on the corner closes at three.
• Look at the letterboxes: how many units, what state are the common areas in, is there a building manager?

Questions to ask the landlord

What to bring

A complete file, ready to leave behind, often makes the difference:

• identity document;
• proof of income (recent payslips, employer's certificate, grant certificate, tax assessment for the self-employed);
• household composition;
• contact details and, if you have one, a good-payment certificate from your previous landlord.

Our guide to building a rental application file goes further. Also know what a landlord may not demand: the Regions restrict the information that can be requested from a candidate, in Brussels the list is even closed, and refusing someone because their income comes from a benefit, or because their deposit was set up with help from the CPAS, is discrimination. Our article on housing discrimination sets out those limits and the remedies.

The warning signs of a scam

• You are asked for money before the viewing ("booking fee", "to hold the property"). Never pay to view.
• The landlord is unreachable, abroad, offers to post the keys, will not meet you.
• The price is clearly below market for the area. There is always a reason.
• The inspection or the registration of the lease is refused.
• You are asked to pay the deposit into a personal account, in cash, by instant transfer, in crypto or in gift cards.
• Pressure: "three people are waiting, you must sign tonight".
• The photos appear elsewhere (a reverse image search finds them in another city).
• The landlord's identity does not match the owner of the property.

Faced with a doubtful ad, check who you are dealing with. Some sites do part of that check upstream: on Domilinko, a Belgian peer-to-peer rental site with no intermediary, owners' identity and the listings' EPC certificates are verified, and the move-in inspection is done jointly, with photos and meter readings. Wherever you search, the rule stays the same: no payment before you have viewed, checked and signed. A scam attempt can be reported to the FPS Economy contact point, and to the police if you have already paid.

Compatri does not let housing and plays no part in your lease: this guide helps you understand your rights and find the right people to turn to.

Official sources

• Flanders: energy performance certificates: the EPC when selling or letting (in Dutch)
• Brussels Environment: the EPB certificate of a dwelling: energy class and what ads must state (in French)
• Brussels Housing: conformity of rental properties: quality standards and the role of the DIRL
• Wallonia: obtaining a rental permit: small homes, student rooms and shared housing (in French)
• FPS Economy contact point: report a scam or fraud