What costs do you have as a tenant?

You pay the rent. In addition, as a tenant, you are responsible for certain costs and charges:

• individual consumption of water and energy
• costs associated with the common parts of the house, e.g. cleaning the corridor, maintenance of garden and elevator, electricity in the common parts ...

1. Did your contract started before January 1, 2019?

According to the Woninghuurwet, you and the landlord are allowed to decide yourselves what costs and charges you must pay. Your rental contract determines what costs and charges your landlord can charge.

Have you made no agreements about this?
Then the general principle applies:

• The landlord pays the costs associated with owning or managing the property.
• The tenant pays the costs and charges associated with the use of the property.

So check carefully if there is a specific arrangement about costs and charges in your lease.
Good to know: you as a tenant never have to pay the property tax (onroerende voorheffing).

2. Did your contract started after January 1, 2019?

Then the Woninghuurdecreet determines which costs and charges can be passed on to you. Consult the list of costs and charges drawn up by the Flemish government at the bottom of this article.

Is there anything in your rental contract that differs from the list above? Then that list still applies.

Are certain costs or charges not on the list? Then the general principle from above applies.

How do you pay your costs and charges?

Check your rental contract.

Are there separate meters for gas, electricity and/or water? Then you usually have to make your own contracts for those.

There are different ways to pay the common costs (and sometimes your individual consumption):

1. Costs included in the rent: the rental contract explicitly states which costs and charges are included in the rent.
2. Advance or provisie: you pay a standard monthly advance on top of the rent. Every year the landlord makes a settlement of all costs and charges. Are the advances paid not enough? Then you have to pay extra. Have you paid too much in advance? Then the landlord must pay you back the difference. You have the right to request the necessary documents and invoices in addition to the settlement. This way you can check whether the costs requested correspond to the costs actually incurred.
3. Fixed amount or forfait: the rental contract explicitly states that you pay a fixed amount for certain costs and charges. This fixed amount covers the costs and charges, whether they correspond to the actual costs incurred or not. So the landlord does not make an annual settlement of costs and charges in this case.

Are shared meters allowed?

Shared meters measure the consumption of multiple homes.
Example: You rent an apartment, where there is only one gas meter for the entire apartment building.

• In new or renovated homes, separate meters must be provided.
• In older homes or apartment buildings, shared meters for water and/or energy are still allowed.

Ask if there is a shared meter in your building. If so, make proper arrangements in the lease for how the tenants will share the costs.

Example: Building-wide water consumption is divided by the number of apartments. OR it is divided by the number of residents. You can also suggest installing intermediate meters that measure consumption for each apartment.

Are there no separate meters for gas and electricity? Then you won't get sociaal tarief, but you will get compensation.

Is there no separate water meter? Then you won't get sociaal tarief, but you will get compensation.