Selling a rental property in Brussels

Selling one or more of your rental units may be the best choice. You may want to concentrate your activity on a particular region or certain properties, free up cash for settling inheritance tax, or notice that some of your units are among the least efficient in your portfolio on a long-term basis. In these and other cases, selling is an excellent idea. 

These are different parameters that we constantly update in Up2Rent. Owners and the agencies that advise them can instantly see the champions and yellow jerseys in their portfolio and the regions where their business is concentrated. The idea behind these assessments is to give the necessary perspective for the best-informed investment decisions.

Tenants have always had certain rights that the selling owner must respect. For example, selling a rental unit never interrupts the lease on that unit. The purchaser becomes the lessor of the tenant of the unit sold. 

In Brussels since January 2024, these rights also include a pre-emptive right for the tenant, the preferential right. 

Scope of the Brussels tenant’s preferential right

The preferential right applies to tenants under certain conditions:

• The preferential right applies only to principal residence leases concluded for nine years (or more).

• It applies to the tenant, who must be domiciled there, his legal or de facto cohabitant, his children, as long as they are all domiciled there, as well as flatmates and students. The condition is that the tenant must be domiciled. 

• The preferential right also applies in the case of public sales. 

The preferential right does not apply to tenants with short-term leases or sales between members of the same family.

On a purely practical level, the entry into force of this right of pre-emption imposes a certain timetable on owners wishing to sell.

Procedure to be followed by landlords in the event of a sale in Brussels from 2024

Here is a closer look at the procedure to follow in the event of a sale and the deadlines that now apply to landlords. 

• The landlord must inform the tenant of the sale by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt. The letter must include a description of the property, the price, and the conditions of sale. This constitutes a non-negotiable offer to the tenant in terms of price and conditions.

• After 30 days, the landlord can put the property on the market.

• If the property is sold at a lower price, the tenant must be informed. They then have a further seven days to exercise their preferential right. 

These different steps slow down the sale, which can be inconvenient for the owner, who may have other obligations to meet.

Landlords who fail to comply with this procedure are liable to sanctions: the aggrieved tenant can take legal action in subrogation against the purchaser – who has had no responsibility in the process. The aggrieved purchaser would then be entitled to turn to the lessor-seller, the notary, or the real estate agent who has/have failed in their obligations.

While landlords are responsible for following the steps detailed above, real estate agents and notaries are responsible for checking that the tenant has been duly informed, and failing that, for taking action themselves.

We will keep you informed of any changes in the legislation following its implementation, and of the impact on the rental stock in Brussels of the entry into force of such an ordinance.