Giving notice as a tenant: notice period, indemnity, formalities

# Giving notice as a tenant in Belgium

A tenant who wants to leave has three questions: how much longer do I pay rent, do I owe an indemnity, and how do I notify the landlord. The answers depend on the Region and on the type of lease. And the calculation of the notice period is almost always botched — for exactly one month's rent.

Belgian rental law is regional

Since 2018-2019, residential leases are no longer governed by a single federal act. Brussels applies the Brussels Housing Code, Wallonia the decree of 15 March 2018 on residential leases, Flanders the Flemish Residential Lease Decree (Woninghuurdecreet). The three texts share the architecture inherited from the 1991 federal law, but they have diverged on several points. Never reason "under Belgian law": reason under the law of the Region where the property is located.

Main-residence lease (9 years): three months, at any time

This is the standard lease. The tenant may end it at any time, without giving a reason, subject to three months' notice. The landlord does not have that freedom: he may only terminate on specific grounds.

When the clock starts: the mistake that costs a month

This is the heart of the matter. The notice period does not start on the day you post the letter. It starts on the first day of the month following the month in which the notice was given.

• Notice given on 8 March → the period runs from 1 April to 30 June. The lease ends on 30 June. You owe rent for March, April, May and June.
• Notice given on 2 April → the period runs from 1 May to 31 July. Four days late cost you a full month.

A further subtlety: what counts is when the notice is served, and the regional texts presume receipt a few working days after the registered letter is posted. Practical consequence: never post your registered letter in the last days of the month. Send it by around the 20th at the latest, and keep the proof of posting.

The indemnity during the first three years

If the nine-year lease ends during the first three years, the tenant owes the landlord an indemnity on top of the three months' notice:

What matters is the actual end date of the lease (the end of the notice period), not the date you posted the letter. A tenant who moved in on 1 March 2025 and gives notice on 10 November 2025 will see the lease end on 28 February 2026: still within year one, so three months' indemnity. Giving notice one week later would have pushed the end into year two — halving the indemnity. Always simulate both scenarios before posting.

After the third year, no indemnity at all: three months' notice, and that is it.

Short leases (three years or less)

Careful: "short lease" here means a main-residence lease concluded for three years or less — not a tourist rental.

The regime is different, and this is where the Regions diverge most:

• Brussels and Wallonia: the tenant may terminate at any time, with three months' notice and an indemnity of one month's rent.
• Flanders: the same three months' notice, but the indemnity is degressive depending on the year in progress (in the order of one and a half months in year one, one month in year two, half a month in year three). Check which year your lease actually ends in.

To end the lease at its term (rather than early), notice must be served some months before expiry — failing which, in all three Regions, the lease converts into a nine-year lease counted from the original start date. This trap is real: a one-year lease nobody terminated becomes a nine-year lease. Put the expiry date in your calendar six months ahead, and have the end date confirmed in writing.

The one-month counter-notice

If the landlord gave notice (personal occupation, works, etc.) and you find another home before his notice period expires, you need not wait: you may serve a one-month counter-notice, with no indemnity, including during the first three years. You then pay rent only until the end of that month. It is a very favourable rule, and widely unknown.

The form of the notice

Notice is a written act. In practice:

Flatshares: leaving on your own

The three Regions have created a specific regime for flatshare leases, with a flatshare pact between co-tenants. The shared principle: the departing co-tenant gives notice to the landlord and to the other co-tenants, and must look for a replacement. If a replacement is accepted by the others and by the landlord, he is released. Otherwise he may remain jointly liable for a limited period after leaving.

The deadlines and the duration of that residual joint liability differ from one Region to another — Brussels, for instance, provides a shorter notice period than ordinary law. Because the sums at stake are significant, read your Region's text or have your situation checked before sending anything.

Before handing back the keys

• Ask for the exit inspection, contradictory, compared with the entry inspection.
• Take meter readings (electricity, gas, water) with time-stamped photos and send them to the suppliers.
• Pay rent and charge provisions up to the last day of the notice period.
• Ask for the charges statement and the release of the rental deposit (which is unblocked only by mutual agreement or by court order).

On Domilinko

Domilinko keeps the time-stamped entry inspection (photos, meter readings, signatures) and the key handover. When you leave, the exit inspection is built on those dated records: that is what makes a discussion about the deposit much shorter. The platform does not hold the rental deposit — it is set up off-platform on a blocked account — and it does not serve your notice for you: the registered letter is your job.

> This article is general information. On a notice, one month's difference changes the amount owed: if in doubt, have your letter reviewed by your municipal housing service, a legal aid service or a tenants' association.