Following the ordinance of June 2023 concerning eviction procedures (see our Newsletter of 7 November 2023 on this subject, click here), and the ordinance September 2023 introducing the tenant’s preferential right, starting from the end of March 2024, the Brussels Parliament approved a new ordinance amending the Brussels Housing Code. This text will come into force 6 months after its publication in the Belgian Official Journal.

The goal of this piece of legislation is to ensure that the law applicable in the Brussels-Capital Region protects and guarantees the effectiveness of the right to housing. This text is centered around 3 main components: habitability, legal protection of housing, and ability to pay.

In particular, the ordinance provides a stricter legal framework regarding rental guarantees, the amount of which can no longer depend on the tenant’s ability to pay, and will be limited in form and amount (maximum two months’ rent, excluding charges). Finally, the rental guarantee will have to be released within two months of the tenant’s departure from the housing. Failing to do so, the landlord could be ordered to compensate the tenant up to 10% of the rent for each month of delay.

Short-term leases will also be impacted by this reform. Landlords will only be allowed to extend short-term leases once, and will not be allowed to modify the amount of the rent (with the exception of contractually agreed rent indexation) during the term of the lease.

As for tenants owning pets, the ordinance shall invalidate any contractual provision forbidding tenants from owing pets within leased premises, unless there is a “reasonable motive behind the refusal”. Although the text remains vague in this respect, the preamble to the ordinance specifies that this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In the event of a dispute, the Judge of Peace shall have the authority to assess the claimed reasonableness of the pet-owning prohibition.

The ordinance also strengthens the framework regarding illegal evictions (without a court order and without the intervention of a bailiff).

Another new feature is that if the tenant files a complaint with the DIRL (“Direction de l’Inspection Régionale du Logement” – Regional department for housing control), any notice given by the landlord to the tenant is suspended until the housing safety investigation is completed.

Finally, a different statute of limitations is set between landlord and tenant with regards to rental charges. The text also generalizes the possibility for the tenant to issue a counter-notice.

If you have any further questions on the matter, please feel free to contact Carole DE RUYT.