Moving house in Belgium: the complete checklist
A Belgian move has four fixed points: the notice on your current lease, the parking permit you request from the commune, the meter readings recorded at handover, and the telecom activation date at the new address. Everything else can be improvised. Those four have lead times you cannot compress, so plan backwards from your handover date.
Steps
Three months out: serve notice and check the lease terms
Send your notice by the method your lease requires and keep the proof. Read what the contract says about the notice period, any compensation for leaving early, and the condition in which the property must be returned.
Two months out: book the removal and the telecom activation
Removal firms and telecom installation slots are both scheduled weeks ahead. Fix the connection date at the new address first, since it depends on network availability, and align the removal around it rather than the reverse.
One month out: request the parking permit from the commune
A moving parking reservation on the public road is granted by the commune of each address, on request and usually against a fee. Applications close well before the date, and a lorry with nowhere to stop costs more than the permit.
Handover day: record meters and complete the exit inventory
Read every meter register, photograph each meter with its serial number visible, and complete the energy transfer document with the other occupant. Do the exit inventory against the entry inventory, item by item, before handing back the keys.
The week after: chase the rental guarantee release
A blocked rental guarantee is released only with the agreement of both parties or a court decision. Ask the landlord to sign the release as soon as the exit inventory is agreed, because this is where a move quietly stalls for months.
The Belgian specifics that catch people out
The parking permit is the one nobody anticipates. Reserving space for a removal lorry on a public road requires authorisation from the commune, and in dense areas the signs must be placed days in advance for the reservation to be enforceable.
The exit inventory is decisive because it is compared with the entry inventory drawn up when you arrived. If no entry inventory exists, the legal presumption about the state of the property changes, and that difference is worth money.
The blocked rental guarantee is not refunded automatically. The account releases on joint signature or a judgment, which gives a landlord considerable leverage if you leave the country before it is settled. Do not book your flight around it.
Waste collection and recycling park access are organised by the commune or an intercommunal body, so bags, cards and calendars change when you cross a municipal boundary even within the same city.
Sequencing contracts around the handover
Energy is handled by the transfer document rather than by cancelling and re-subscribing blindly. Signed by the outgoing and incoming occupants on the handover day, it fixes the readings and prevents each from being billed for the other's consumption.
Telecom is the opposite: it needs an activation date booked in advance, because what is technically available differs from street to street. Overlapping the two addresses by a few days costs little and avoids arriving with no connection.
Insurance follows the property. Tell your home insurer the new address and the new surface before you move in, since cover on the wrong property is cover you cannot claim on. Check whether the removal itself is covered by anything.
Water is contracted with a regional operator that depends on the address, and the handover reading matters exactly as it does for energy. Take that reading on the same day and with the same photographic evidence.
After the move
Declaring your new address at the commune is a legal obligation with a short deadline, and it triggers a residence check by the local police. It also determines which region taxes your vehicle and which regional rules apply to you.
Once the commune has updated the register, work through the list of people who need to know: mutuality, insurers, bank, employer, and any subscription that delivers something physical to your door.
Employees in Belgium are generally entitled to a short period of leave for a move under sectoral or company arrangements. Check what applies in your joint committee before taking a day of ordinary holiday.
Finally, keep the file. The entry inventory, the meter photographs, the transfer document and the guarantee release paperwork are what you will need at the end of the next lease, not at the end of this one.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need permission to park a removal lorry?
Usually yes. The commune of each address grants a temporary parking reservation on request, generally against a fee, and the signage must be in place in advance. Apply well before the date, because approval is not immediate.
How do I get my rental guarantee back?
A blocked guarantee account releases on the joint agreement of tenant and landlord, or on a court decision. Agree the exit inventory first, then ask the landlord to sign the release immediately rather than after you have left the country.
What do I do about electricity on the day?
Complete the energy transfer document with the other occupant, recording every meter register and the EAN codes, and photograph each meter with its serial number visible. Both parties sign, and each sends the document to their own supplier.
Am I entitled to time off work to move?
Many Belgian employees have a short entitlement to leave for a move under sectoral or company agreements rather than a single national rule. Ask your employer or check your joint committee before booking ordinary holiday for the day.