The end of the lease

Record a notice to terminate, record the return of the keys, release the deposit, put the listing back online and handle a co-tenant leaving.

These cards are on the record of a signed lease: Properties and mandates › Leases, then click the lease. Notices, Move-out and deposit and Re-letting and co-tenancy cards.

Recording a notice to terminate

1. Choose Who gives notice: The landlord or The tenant.
2. Choose the Ground.
3. Fill in the Notification date (at most 30 days after today).
4. Choose How: Registered letter, Bailiff's writ, Delivered by hand or Other.
5. Fill in the fields specific to the ground, if there are any.
6. Read the simulation: Notice period (length and starting point), End of the lease, Compensation.
7. Click Record the notice and prepare the letter (landlord's notice) or Record the notice received (tenant's notice).

Fields specific to the ground:

• personal occupation: Who will live in the home (name, relationship) and the Relative in the third degree box;
• student lease, tenant's notice: the Proven exception (failed year, enrolment refused, dropping out, death of a parent, accepted assignment) box.

What happens next:

• the notice is fixed and appears in the Notices history: “given on {date}, ends on {date}”, with the compensation;
• the rent schedule stops at the end of the lease;
• the reminders are set, including “Do the move-out inventory” 30 days before the end;
• for a landlord's notice, a PDF letter is produced in the language of the first tenant, filed in the property's documents and in the tenant space. It appears under the The letter link;
• the card shows “The lease ends on {date}.”.

• Each party can only have one active notice: “This party has already given notice: cancel it first if it has to be redone.”
• Cancel keeps the notice in the history, marked “cancelled”, and extends the schedule.

The rules applied

The notice period starts on the first day of the month following the notification and ends the day before the same day, N months later. For example: notified on 15/03, 3-month notice period, from 01/04 to 30/06. The end never goes beyond the end of the lease.

The application places the lease in a regime: Student for a student lease; Short term for a short-term lease or one of 36 months at most; Nine years otherwise. Compensation is calculated on the rent in force at the notification date, indexations included.

Any other ground is refused: “This ground is not allowed for this lease, in this region.”

A notice that must end on a specific date (end of the lease, end of a three-year period) is refused if it is notified too late: “Too late: the notice period would not end in time.” For example, for an end on 30/06 with 3 months' notice, you must notify by 31/03 at the latest.

The other blocking messages:

• “A counter-notice requires a landlord's notice, recorded first.”
• “Wallonia: the student can no longer give notice after 15 March, unless a proven exception applies.”
• “The landlord of a short-term lease can only give notice after the first year.”
• “The lease needs a region, a start date and a duration.”

The warnings, which do not block:

• “The occupation must begin within the year and last at least two years, otherwise the tenant is owed 18 months of rent.”
• “The works must be justified (permit, quote) and start on time, otherwise the tenant is owed 18 months of rent.”
• “The exception must be proven to the landlord.”
• “This counter-notice would end after the landlord's notice: it brings nothing forward.”
• In Brussels: “Brussels: the start of the notice period may have changed in 2024 (date the notice became known) — to be checked.”. The application still calculates the notice period from the month following the notification: check the date.

Cases to enter by hand

In these cases, the card shows “A case our rules do not cover: enter the checked end date and compensation, with the justification.”:

• an “At the end of the lease” notice on a student lease (except the landlord's in Brussels);
• a counter-notice on a short-term or student lease;
• a landlord's notice on a student lease in Wallonia;
• a Walloon student's notice with the Proven exception box ticked.

1. Fill in Checked end of the lease (between the notification and the end of the lease).
2. Fill in Checked compensation (€).
3. Fill in Justification (at least 10 characters).
4. Record the notice.

The history marks this notice “end entered”.

A short-term lease that becomes a nine-year lease

For a short-term lease with no notice, the card warns: “Short-term lease: without notice given by {limite} at the latest, the lease becomes a nine-year lease on {lendemain}.”. The limit is calculated with a 3-month notice period before the end of the lease. The agent in charge of the mandate receives a task 60 days before this limit.

Recording the return of the keys

The Move-out and deposit card first reminds you of the move-out inventory (see Inventories).

1. Fill in Keys returned on.
2. Click Record the return of the keys.

• The date can be neither in the future nor before the lease start. It can still be changed as long as the release agreement has not been frozen.
• It starts the period for releasing the deposit, shown on the card.

In Flanders, the card also shows: “The landlord's claim on the deposit lapses on {date}.” (12 months after the end of the lease).

Releasing the deposit

1. Click Prepare the release (the return of the keys must be recorded and the lease must have a deposit).
2. Read through the pre-filled Deductions and put a figure on them.
3. Add or remove deductions with Add a deduction and Remove, then click Save.
4. Click Freeze the agreement and prepare the PDF.
5. Print The release agreement to sign and have it signed.
6. Choose the Basis (Written agreement of the parties or Court judgment), fill in Signed or delivered on, then click Record the signature.
7. Have the deposit released, fill in Deposit released on, then click Record the release.

The pre-filled deductions:

• Unpaid rent: the instalments due and not settled, with the list of months;
• Notice compensation: if the tenant's notice provides for one;
• Damage: one line per item damaged between the signed move-in and move-out inventories, at €0: put a figure on each line or remove it.

Each deduction has a Type (Unpaid rent, Charges, Notice compensation, Damage, Held part (statement), Other), a Description, an Amount (€) and a Justification. The card shows the split: To the landlord, Held until the service charge statement, To the tenant, Further owed by the tenant.

• Each deduction must have an amount and a justification (except the held part).
• If the deductions exceed the deposit, the excess is shown in Further owed by the tenant.
• The agreement cannot be dated before the end of the lease: “The agreement cannot come before the end of the lease.”
• Reopen the agreement remains possible as long as the signature has not been recorded.
• No e-mail is sent with the agreement: it is to be printed and signed.

What happens on release:

• in Brussels, if the legal period is exceeded, the card shows “Delay of {n} months: penalty of {montant} owed to the tenant.”. The application counts each month begun;
• if the end of the lease has passed, the lease becomes Ended.

The part held until the statement

A Held part (statement) deduction keeps part of the deposit until the service charge statement.

1. After the statement (see Indexation and charges), the card suggests: “The last service charge statement leaves {montant} owed by the tenant.”
2. Fill in To the landlord (charges owed) (€) and Justification (at least 5 characters).
3. Click Prepare the balance agreement and have The balance release agreement to sign signed.
4. Fill in Balance released on, then click Record the release.

The card shows “Balance released on {date}: {montant} to the landlord, {montant} to the tenant.”. The amount to the landlord cannot exceed the held part.

Re-letting the property

When a notice has been recorded, or the lease has ended, the Re-letting and co-tenancy card shows: “The lease is ending: the listing can go back online to find the next tenant. The new lease is prepared during the notice period.”

1. Click Put the listing back online.

The listing goes back online and receives new applications (see Applications). The previously selected candidate no longer blocks the choice of the next one.

This is only possible if the letting mandate is still signed. Otherwise, the card says why:

• “The letting mandate is closed: a new mandate is needed to re-let.”
• “The listing is closed (let or withdrawn): a new mandate is needed to re-let.”
• “The listing is online: applications arrive on the listing.”

In Brussels: “Brussels: the next lease automatically takes over the last rent paid (pre-contractual information).”

A co-tenant leaving

For a signed shared housing lease in Brussels or Wallonia. Flanders has no co-tenancy regime.

The co-tenant's share is the one in the pact, otherwise the rent divided by the number of tenants. The notice period starts on the first day of the month following the notification, as for a notice to terminate.

1. Choose Who is leaving.
2. Fill in the Notification date (at most 30 days after today).
3. Click Record the departure.

The row shows “notified on {date}, notice until {date}”, and “released by {date} at the latest” (Brussels) or “{montant} to the co-tenants if not replaced” (Wallonia). Then:

• Replace: choose The replacement from your contacts. They join the lease as a tenant, with the leaving tenant's share. The leaving tenant leaves the lease at the end of their notice period (today if it has passed);
• Release: fill in Released on, at the earliest at the end of the notice period;
• Cancel: the departure is cancelled.

• The last tenant cannot leave this way: “This is the last tenant: their departure is a notice to terminate.”
• The agent in charge of the mandate receives the task “Co-tenant leaving: replaced or released?” 7 days before the end of the notice period.
• In Wallonia, an inventory amendment can be made on each arrival or departure (see Inventories).