published:
This new ordinance, introduced by Secretary of State for Housing Nawal Ben Hamou (PS) and approved by the Brussels Parliament in March 2024, increases the constraints imposed on landlords.
The ordinance aims to make it easier for tenants to access decent, affordable housing and to fight illegal evictions. This means that landlords will have to juggle a series of new constraints in the Brussels-Capital Region:
The rental guarantee will amount to a maximum of two months’ rent, which must be deposited in a bank account. When the tenancy ends, the landlord will have a maximum of two months to return it to the tenant, failing which a sum will have to be paid to the tenant.
In practice, the new ordinance restricts rent increases: landlords are no longer free to increase rent between two tenants. Indexation remains possible.
Up2Rent calculates this automatically in good time for all leases. Landlords then choose whether or not to apply the indexation and communicate it to tenants by automatic and/or personalised messages.
The new ordinance also applies to charge statements. Any error in the statement can be rectified. However, if the landlord is responsible for the error, the tenant can claim the correction for all periods. When the tenant is responsible for the error, the landlord can claim rectification for a maximum of five annual periods. The correction must be made within two years of the statement being drawn up, for tenants and landlords.
Here too, Up2Rent makes life easier for landlords or their managers who are faced with several charges statements: the application automatically calculates them based on meter readings, by rental unit, and by property. The statements are drawn up transparently for all parties.
Finally, in principle, landlords can no longer refuse tenants because of their pets. Evictions without an official legal document will be punishable by up to 18 months’ rent. Short-term leases could be extended once only.
The immediate impact of the new measures is the complexity that landlords have to deal with, while also juggling with the recent introduction of the right of preference. As they are implemented, we will monitor their impact on tenants and landlords with interest, and keep you informed!
