Housing in Brussels: New rules for renting an apartment

Subletting will be regularized. The Brussels government adopted on Thursday (30 June) in a first reading a draft regulation on lease contracts. The draft has been subject to extensive consultation and was tabled by Minister of Housing Céline Fremault (CDH).

The new regulation aims at transposing federal law in the legislation of the Brussels regions and to take into account new forms of living in Brussels such as shared living, student housing and subletting.

Currently there is no specific regulation concerning shared living. The draft provides for minimum terms in an agreement between the tenants sharing the same apartment.

A special legal arrangement is foreseen for student housing as regards the terms in the lease contract – maximum duration of one year and renewable for one year with the same rent payment.

The rules will be also more flexible as regards the transfer of lease contracts and subletting. Unless subletting is explicitly excluded in the lease, it will be allowed in principle. The landlord will have thirty days to reject or accept the new tenant.

The fight against discrimination in the housing sector will also be reinforced. There will be a rental guarantee fund for the benefit of people in need of help by the social authorities (CPAS = Les Centres Publics d'Action Sociale). It will set the legal basis for an indicative table of rent payments.

The Brussels Times (Source: Belga)


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