House-sharing in Belgium: the pact and the lease

What the law says in each Region

In Wallonia, house-sharing is governed by articles 65 to 75 of the decree of 15 March 2018, for house-shares concluded or renewed from 1 September 2018. In Brussels, it is articles 257 to 261 of the Brussels Housing Code, for leases concluded or renewed after 1 January 2018. Flanders has its own law; see vlaanderen.be.

In Wallonia, house-sharing is the letting of the same property to several co-tenants, with at least one shared living room or sanitary facility. A married couple or legal cohabitants cannot be co-tenants with each other, but can together form a single one of the tenants.

A single lease

The co-tenants sign a single contract with the landlord. The lease states the date on which the pact was signed (Wallonia). The lease must also be registered (see Registering a lease). When a new co-tenant arrives, an amendment to the lease is concluded; in Wallonia, the obligation to register it lies with the new co-tenant.

Which regime applies? If one of the co-tenants makes the home their main residence with the agreement of all the others and of the landlord, the rules of the main-residence lease also apply, except where a rule specific to house-sharing applies. In Brussels, if no co-tenant makes it their main residence, only the rules common to all residential leases apply. The co-tenants’ student status does not change this regime in Brussels.

The house-sharing pact

The pact is the agreement between the co-tenants themselves. It is drawn up in as many copies as there are co-tenants, and an amendment is signed when each new co-tenant arrives (Wallonia). The Walloon decree requires, as a minimum:

1. the division of the rent, if the lease does not provide for it;
2. the division of shared and private charges;
3. the inventory of the furniture and of who owns it;
4. the arrangements for supply contracts (water, gas, electricity, internet);
5. the arrangements for the home’s insurance contracts;
6. the arrangements for a co-tenant’s arrival, departure and replacement;
7. the conditions for setting up and releasing the rental deposit;
8. the way conflicts between co-tenants are settled.

In Brussels, the pact must set out the rent-sharing key, the allocation of rental damage and how it is charged to the deposit, who bears maintenance and repair costs, the division of household tasks, an inventory of the furniture, insurance (including fire) and the arrangements for arrival, departure and replacement.

In Brussels, the pact binds the co-tenants who sign it, but they can only rely on it against the landlord or third parties if it has a certain date (date certaine). It is therefore in their interest to have it registered. No model is provided in Brussels. In Wallonia, the Government adopts an indicative model pact (art. 75).

Joint and several liability

The co-tenants are jointly and severally liable for all the obligations of the lease. This means the landlord can claim the full rent from any one of them, even if another has not paid their share. The one who has paid can then turn against the others, but only for their share. In Brussels, joint liability applies towards the landlord, but not to the internal rules of the pact: the division between co-tenants remains free.

A co-tenant leaving

In Wallonia, a co-tenant who wants to leave before the end of the term gives 3 months’ notice, simultaneously to the landlord and to the other co-tenants. After these 3 months, they are released from their obligations without compensation, provided the landlord and the co-tenants have approved their replacement (refusal is only possible for good reasons). Without approval, they are released but owe their co-tenants compensation equal to three times their share of the rent. The replacement takes over their rights and obligations for the remaining term.

In Brussels, a co-tenant who leaves early gives 2 months’ notice, at any time, without compensation. They send a copy of their notice to the other co-tenants by registered letter. They are released from their obligations under the lease and the pact if they have found a new co-tenant before the end of the notice period, or if they have carried out an active and sufficient search (adverts on several websites, viewings, meetings). Otherwise, their obligations end no later than 6 months after the date their notice takes effect: they therefore pay rent during that period.

All co-tenants who end the lease must each sign the notice.

At each departure and each arrival, an amendment to the inventory of fixtures (état des lieux) is drawn up in Wallonia (the private parts of the co-tenant concerned and the shared parts). In Brussels, the pact may provide for an interim inventory of fixtures.

Can the landlord end the lease?

When at least half of the co-tenants who signed the original lease have given notice, the landlord can end the lease with 6 months’ notice. In Wallonia, they must do so within one month of notification of the last notice. In Brussels, the brochure states this for co-tenants who have not been replaced. The landlord can also apply the ordinary rules of the main-residence lease (see Ending a lease).

Deposit, rental permit, property tax

The rental deposit (garantie locative) is capped at 2 months’ rent (Wallonia, and Brussels for recent leases). The property tax (précompte immobilier) cannot be charged to the co-tenants (Walloon decree, art. 73; see property tax). In Wallonia, house-sharing is a form of collective housing that in principle requires a rental permit (permis de location), but the landlord does not need one if the lease is concluded with fewer than 5 adults (Walloon Sustainable Housing Code, art. 9). For a specific case, ask your commune.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer or a notary can review a house-sharing pact, especially the division of damage and the deposit. For the rental deposit, the Société wallonne du Crédit social (the Walloon social credit company), the Housing Fund (Fonds du Logement) or a CPAS can help set it up. In the event of a conflict between co-tenants or with the landlord, the Justice of the Peace (juge de paix) has jurisdiction.