1. General outline
A lease is a mutual commitment in which the letter cedes the enjoyment of a property to the tenant for a certain period of time, in exchange of paying rent.
In a lease there are two parties: the letter (landlord) and the tenant (student).
The letter will often ask for the parents' signature, too, even though minor students can in fact conclude a lease. Nevertheless, the lease signed by the student is binding and not to ignore!
The agreement can also be obtained orally, but is also binding for both parties. The notice equals the period of time between payments: it will usually be one month (when you pay your rent monthly). When you have agreed to pay the rent weekly, the notice will be one week etc.
However, a lease is usually written and becomes binding after signing.
There are different types of student accommodation which can be rented furnished or unfurnished. In most cases, as is the case for the rooms offered by Quartier Latin, they are furnished. Sometimes the furniture is let separately for fiscal reasons only.
For the letting of unfurnished rooms the 'accommodation rent law' applies. This law deviates in a certain way from what is said below
2. Parts of the lease
A lease can consist of three parts:
B. House Rules
A. The actual lease
The lease is usually based on a preprinted type text.
However, before signing both parties are free to delete or change certain clauses with which they do not agree. It is best that both parties initial these deletions or changes. We advise you to use the standard lease "Quartier Latin".
If the letter refuses to use this standard lease, it can still be a good guide when talking about the diverse rent modalities.
The lease is made up in several copies and every party receives one copy. The remaining copies can be for the housing service or for registration. Registration should be done within four months after signing; however, it is not obligatory. A non-registered contract has the same validity as a registered one.
The advantage of a registered contract is that it is valid also against third persons. This implies that when the letter sells his house, the new owner should apply the same contract. Furthermore, it is fiscal information, allowing the authorities to count the letter's earnings of it.
Normally, the contract should mention the party in charge of registration costs. If this is not explicitly mentioned, the tenant is in charge of them. The costs amount to +/- 24,8 Euro.
For registration, please contact:
Dienst Registraties (service for registrations)
54 Rue de la Régence
1000 Brussels
Tel.: 02/509.46.11
B. House Rules
Internal house rules are binding if they have been signed by both parties at the conclusion of the lease. These rules mention for instance if someone can stay over or not, if you can smoke or not and where... You make arrangements concerning night noise, times for locking the front door, times for putting out your dustbins and more practical matters.
House rules are a solution when your neighbor likes to put his volume knob on 10, comes home drunk every night, throws up in the toilet, organizes a party every week, leaves a pile of unwashed and mildew dishes in the common kitchen, raids the fridge etc. When there are no houses rules, you cannot do much about this nuisance.
C. Inventory togopraphy
The inventory is a list of furniture and other movables and decoration (curtains, racks, hallstands etc.) which are in the room at the beginning of the lease. It also mentions their state. Sometimes even, the pieces of furniture are numbered.
The topography describes the state of the let room at the beginning of the lease. This description is usually made within a fortnight after commencement of the rent in the presence of both parties and it is signed by both parties. It should not necessarily be done by an expert, because this can cause supplementary costs.
Inventory-topography is not obliged by law.
If the lease does not provide for an inventory - topography and you have not done one, the letter has to prove that the let room is in a state different from that in the beginning of the lease. In other words: he has to prove that the student caused the damages. This is in fact in the student's advantage.
If an inventory-topography is done, it is in the student's interest that the flaws are described clearly and in detail in order to avoid that repairs would be at his expense at the end of the lease. You should best pay close attention to scratches on furniture, damage done to wallpaper and the number of keys.
Repairs guarantee
When the tenant is responsible for any damages done to the room during his lease, the letter will have these repaired at the end of the lease and charge the student for it. Minor repairs (such as fixing drawing pin holes in the wall) can be done by the student himself before leaving the rented room. Repairs of damages due to old age, wear and tear and 'force majeure' cannot be done at the student's expense.
In order to enable the letter to obtain a certain provision for possible damages, the lease will usually require a guarantee. This is drawn on before there are claims of supplementary damages; however, it can never be used for normal pay of rent.
The amount of the guarantee usually is one or two months' rent. Only if the student rents a place which is also his major residence, the 'accommodation rent law' applies, as well as three months' guarantee.
It is not obliged by law to pay a guarantee. However, it is applied often in a lease.
It is advisable to pay the guarantee on a special individual and blocked account at the student's name. The bank has special forms to do this. The amounts paid on the account can only be freed after written agreement by both parties. The gained interest is for the tenant.
3. Price
The rent is fixed freely by parties in the lease. It is very important to describe clearly what the rent comprises or not. Below is an overview of both possibilities.
Price "all in"
A price "all in" means the price which covers the rent and which includes all other supplementary costs. Water, gas and electricity costs are included in the price. If you have the choice, it is interesting to prefer the price "all in". You can calculate the living cost for a whole year and avoid unpleasant surprises when receiving the final settlement of accounts.
A net price
A net price differs from a price "all in" in the fact that a few supplementary costs are charged. These possible costs are described below.
- Maintenance of the personal accommodation. It is possible that the letter has put him in charge of cleaning the accommodation and charges a supplement for it. In this case we advise you to make clear arrangements about the times when he can do so, in order to safeguard your privacy and to avoid that your desk is swept clean.
- Maintenance of the common parts. The letter can also charge supplements for the regular maintenance (for instance every fortnight) of the common parts (hall, stairs, lift, common bathroom, kitchen...).
- Utilities. It is possible that individual meters for water, gas and electricity have been installed in the rented accommodation. When these are opened in the student's name, payment will be done directly with the company concerned. Furthermore, you should think of the extra costs the company may charge you for opening, closure and guarantee. By mutual agreement with the company and the former tenant opening costs can be avoided.
When the meters are at the letter's name, which is usually the case, they can be individual per accommodation or common for several accommodations. In both cases it is common that you do a monthly prepay and that you receive a definite settlement of accounts at the end of the lease. This will be proved by the companies' invoices. It is prohibited by law that the letter makes a profit on energy distribution; energy should be charged at the current price.
When there are individual meters it is easy to check your own energy use. When there is one meter for several accommodations (rooms, bedsits...) distribution can be done by means of a distribution code, which is best arranged in advance. This is usually the case for common parts
Distribution of heating costs is often done by means of calorimeters which are attached to the heating elements. These are usually rented from energy-providing company which reads the units used once a year. These meters are pretty reliable but not objectionable, which means that you cannot doubt the figures. The time of 'reading' is usually not the same as the end of the lease, so it is advisable to make clear arrangements on this.
- registration costs for the contract
- fire insurance costs
- municipal taxes
For European Union students the student's room is often their second residence. This means that they do not take domicile there (in other words: they do not register at the population service of the municipality concerned). They keep their former domicile address (or major residence), at their parents' place for instance.
Most Brussels municipalities levy taxes on residences other than the major residence.
Distinction is made between students (education during the day or in the evening) and non-students, for whom the tax is usually much higher. Therefore, most letters ask a certificate of enrolment in a polytechnics or a university.
The municipalities levy these taxes every calendar year, apart from date of beginning or end of the stay. It is possible that you have to pay this tax even if you stay in a room for only one month. Every municipality has its own regulations about this. Below you find an informal overview.
|
Municipal taxes/year |
|
|
Oudergem |
62 € |
|
Etterbeek |
37,2 € |
|
Elsene/Ixelles |
74,36 € |
|
Jette |
124 € 24,8 €/ scholarship student |
|
Ganshoren |
free |
|
Koekelberg |
124 € |
|
St-Jans Molenbeek |
free |
|
St-Agatha Berchem |
49,6 € |
|
Watermaal-Bosvoorde |
97,6 € |
|
Brussel |
free |
|
Schaarbeek |
free |
|
St-Joost-ten-Node |
62 € |
|
St-Gillis |
74,36 € |
|
Anderlecht |
free |
|
Evere |
62 € |
|
St-Pieters Woluwe |
free |
|
Ukkel/Uccle |
49,6 € |
|
Vorst/Forest |
free |
|
St-Lambrechts Woluwe |
free |
4. Duration and end of the lease
The accommodation is accessible in weekends and holidays unless this is mentioned differently.
The duration is also mentioned in the contract. Normally, it corresponds to the duration of the academic year, which is 12 months (e.g. from 15/09 till 14/09).
In the latter case you should pay attention that you get access to the accommodation during, before and after a possible second exam session.
When renting unfurnished flats or bedsits the letter may propose to sign a contract of 3, 6 or 9 years.
For furnished accommodations the letter can work with contracts of limited duration, which means (in most cases) of a year.
For a lease of limited duration (applied to furnished accommodations) there is, by law, no early notice unless another notice arrangement has been made in the lease. However, this can be necessary in cases where continuation of the studies or paying the rent becomes impossible: illness, the student's marriage, decease or unemployment of one of the parents etc.
It is therefore advisable to provide for certain 'cancel possibilities' in the lease.
Every notice or early ending of a lease should be done by registered post. If there is no early notice provided for in the contract but arrangements have been made, it is advisable to write these down.
In certain cases the solution can be to propose a new candidate-tenant to the landlord; however, he can refuse this person.
At the end of the lease, the student should decide whether or not to keep the room or to look for another place. Most leases are not automatically prolonged. The letter needs to make a new contract, even if the student stays.
If the student leaves the room, he gives back the key(s) and asks for a receipt.
5. Tenant and letter duties
The letter has the following duties (landlord):
- The duty to deliver: he should put the let accommodation at your disposal and the movables in a good state; for the letting of a "furnished room" the accommodation should be provided with sufficient furniture and household goods: at least one desk, two chairs, a bed, a rack, a wardrobe.
- The duty to maintain: the letter should keep the let accommodation in a good state by doing his regular maintenance and repairs due to force majeur, wear and tear, old age, normal usage etc
- The duty to safeguard : he insures the peaceful enjoyment by safeguarding:"his own actions": not disturb the peaceful enjoyment by his own actions (e.g. enter the room uninvited)
- "Other people's actions": warrant third persons' rights on the accommodation and the hidden flaws.
The tenant has the following duties (Student):
- The duty to decorate: in case of an unfurnished room the tenant will provide it with sufficient furniture and household goods
- The duty to pay: complete payments in time of the rent and the supplementary costs and charges
- The use with due diligence: the duty to maintain the accommodation, to air it, to warm it; the tenant should notify the letter in time when repairs are required; the tenant is responsible for small repairs at his expense: damage done by himself, damage by residents or subtenants and damage due to late or insufficient notification to the letter.
- The duty to return: returning the rented accommodation at the end of the lease as well as the keys
6. Disputes
If letter and tenant have a dispute concerning the application of the lease, you can contact SOVEhB or Quartier Latin to play a mediating role.
If the service cannot reach a solution by mediation, it is advisable to start the reconciliation procedure at the clerk of the court of peace in the canton the house is located in. This request can be oral.
In a reconciliation procedure there are no costs and no solicitors.
The parties will be summoned to appear before the justice of peace on the day and the time the justice will have decided on.
Then, there are two possibilities:
- The reconciliation is done and the minutes will formalize and record the agreement
- One of the parties does not show up or no agreement is reached.
In the latter case the judicial procedure can be started; the demanding party files an appeal at the court of justice which is competent.
See also Good advice - Visit the room
