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Advice/Help regarding rent lease in Antwerp
Hello Everyone!
I was wondering if anyone could help me out with my problem.
I am not very familiar with the lease regulations here in Antwerp. I have been renting an apartment here in Antwerp and on my 4th year now.
First year landlord asked me to sign a 1 year contract. 2nd year I almost moved out because or problems with landlord regarding outrageuos extra charges but in the end he asked if I wanted to stay and I said ok as I couldn't be bothered to go look for an apartment and move all over again at the time, he sent me an email asking me to sign a paper saying that I was going to stay (but it was not the same contract I signed on the 1st year). 3rd year he gave me another 1 year contract to sign. Now on my 4th year he did not give me anything to sign anymore.
My question would be, am I allowed to just give notice now if I want to move and not incur any penalties? How many months notice do I have to give? Having babies soon so need to move to a bigger place :) Landlord has not always been nice so want to make sure that I understand the rules properly before handing in notice as he has tried to be unreasonable on many occasions before. Any help or advice would be most appreciated! Thank you so much in advance.
M.
The first thing you should do is to read carefully the paper(s) which you signed. If these papers are not in a language which you clearly understand get some help from someone who has a good understanding of the language.
The next thing is to check to see if these papers constitute a legal lease and if that lease is registered with the local office which looks after leases. If the lease is not registered you probably don't have anything to worry about as the lease probably has no validity. All leases in Brussels must be registered. I'm not 100% sure but I think this might be the case for all of Belgium. If not, I'm sure someone else will correct me. The lease must also be registered within a certain time after being signed. The telephone number of the office in Brussels is 02 510 9550. They could probably give you the correct number for Antwerp.
If you are in your fourth year of occupation of the same rental property then you are automatically on a standard nine-year lease by law. The terms of the last lease continue to apply except that it now lasts nine years from the date of first occupation.
You have to give three CLEAR CALENDAR months notice and this is best done either by sending a registered letter to the landlord or by actually giving him/her TWO copies of the notice, getting him/her to sign one copy which you then take back. If you give notice now you leave at the end of March, if you give notice on 1 January you leave at the end of April, etc. (It is just possible but unlikely that the last written lease you had provides for less notice, in which case that period of notice applies.)
as a landlord i have some knowledge about rental contracts but to be honest i am little in doubt of what you actually signed for the first three years.
In theory you can submit a short term contract which can be renewed maximum one time only and the lenght of the short term contract cannot exceed three years in total.
after three years if none of the parts resign from it the contract becomes automatically a 9 years but you are already considered to be in the fourth year of it.
That means can you can send a registered letter to end the contract three months before the finishing date you decide. Ensure the letter arrives before the 1st day of the three months.
Three months notice should be the only requirement for you and no penalties should be charged to you.
And remember that concerning the charges you are fully entitled to see invoices proving your consumption, not just piece of papers drafted by your landlord, pretend them at the end of the business year (in Belgium it could well be april or may for December 1st) or anyti;e he makes a 'decompte'
So your position seems quite solid althoug it is not very clear how many contracts you signed in the first three years.
There are association that give support to tenants for bad landlords (also associations for the opposite cases), if you really dont find an agreement contact them for legal support.
Hi to all, have followed this exchange with interest as I will be coming to live in Brussels next month and will be looking to lease an apartment or house. My question is : where is the best place to get clear guidance about leases and the pitfalls, preferably in English ! Thanks Simon
