Living
Finding a place of your own? Where do you start? What are the difficulties? What do you need to watch out for? And who can help you?
Step 1 - find your neighbourhoodStep 2 - find your new homeStep 3 - don't forget thisStep 4 - PracticalFlats for young graduates
Step 1 - Find your neighbourhood
Ready to look outside your student neighbourhood? The Brussels-Capital Region measures 162.4 km2 and has 19 different municipalities. In other words, there are plenty of lovely places to live! Thanks to a number of organisations, you’ll find where your future lies. There are also loads of tools for getting to know the city.
Dive into the figures about the Brussels-Capital Region with the Wijkmonitoring interactive tool.
Step 2: Find your home
Would you like to live alone or together with friends? Are you buying your new home or renting? Where do you start? What do you need to watch out for? And what about more ‘experimental’ forms of living?
Renting
Renting a home is always a big step: you make a serious commitment brought to life in a tenancy agreement. As such, it’s best to be informed about how to approach it. There are standard contracts in which you’re obliged to make up an inventory of premises with your landlord. It’s possible there are extra costs involved. And don’t forget: Brik has flats available for young graduates to rent.
Make sure you include extra costs in your calculations. Is water incorporated in your rental price? What did previous tenants pay for their energy? Are there communal costs for the maintenance of the lift or for cleaning the hallways? Make sure you’re fully informed.
Wonen in Brussel has made a list for you of the places to turn to and the steps you can take if there are problems. Have you found yourself in a difficult situation? Get in touch with one of the many social services in Brussels. It’s easiest doing this via the OCMW (the Public Centre for Social Welfare), the CAW of the JAC (for people less than 25 years old).
Flats for young graduates
Would you like to keep living in Brussels after you’ve completed your studies? Brik lets ten or so flats for young graduates. This way, you’re able to live in the centre of Brussels at rates that reflect a decent price-quality ratio.
Purchasing
Buying a home on the private market can be done directly from seller to buyer, or via an agent. Wonen in Brussel has made a list of real estate agents based in the Brussels-Capital Region.
In Brussels, you can also buy a (newly built) home via Citydev. These are government-subsidised projects for which you pay 30% less than on the private market. Just note that there are waiting lists.
Become a member of the Eigenaarsbond. In exchange for subscription costs, they represent your interests in the event of disputes.
Other living arrangements
Alternative forms of housing are becoming more popular in Brussels. Find out about the possibilities of co-housing and anti-squatting projects.
Step 3: Don’t forget this!
Found a home? Don’t forget to update your papers. For example, your official address and your insurance. Check here for what you need to do.
If your new address is going to be your primary place of residence, you need to register as a resident of the municipality in question. Fail to update and your home will be considered to be a second residence and you’ll (possibly) have to pay hefty taxes and rates.
Changing your place of residence with the civil affairs department (known as the ‘dienst burgerzaken’ in Dutch) for the municipality in which you’re going to live. You can often fill in a form online after which you just need to wait for the neighbourhood police representative to drop by for a visit. This is to check whether you actually live at the address you’ve given. Make sure that your name is on the bell and the letter box. You’ll then receive an invitation from the municipality to update your identity card.
When you rent a home or purchase one that is already being lived in, you can take over the energy contract of the previous resident via the energy supplier. Both parties fill in the meter readings and the contract is transferred. You’re also welcome to change energy supplier. Calculate what the best option is for you with Brugel.
Mains water is produced and distributed in Brussels via Vivaqua. To transfer the water contract, you need to fill in meter readings on a dedicated document.
Think carefully about insurances. Brussels in the only region in Belgium where renters choose—rather than being required—whether to sign up for fire insurance. Nonetheless, a lot of landlords do make it an obligation in the contract. It’s best to make sure you’re fully informed. Fire insurance also covers other types of damage. This is why this insurance is sometimes called home insurance.
Smoke detectors are obligatory in Brussels. There needs to be a smoke detector in every room you travel through on the way from your bedroom to outside.
Although there is no obligation, you may also wish to have family insurance. This protects you and your housemates in the event of (small) accidents. There are special formulas if you’re cohabiting.
Depending on your professional situation and your age, you may be obliged to sign up with a health-insurance fund. What if you’re less than 25 years old and don’t yet have a job? You’re covered by your parents’ health insurance. But if you do have a job or are more than 25 years old, you’ll continue with your parents’ health insurer in a new contract. You’re also allowed to join a different health insurance fund. There are also extra insurances. The most common is a hospital plan.
Step 4: Practical
Garbage and recycling collection, super-fast internet and a doctor just in case you need one: they all make day-to-day life that little bit more comfortable and less stressful.
There are a lot of telecom operatorsactive in Brussels. If you want a package with digital television channels, you’re best comparing which operators offer which channels. Note that not every operator is active in every municipality.
Look into whether there is already internet access in your home via cable or a telephone line. Use a simulation to decide what the best choice is for you.
Propreté Brussels is responsible for picking up garbage. Once or twice a week, your garbage is collected in bags. It’s mandatory to sort or separate your different types of garbage and recycling. You’ll find the right types of garbage bags (cheaply available) in the supermarket to help you with this: recyclable plastic, metal and drink containers (known as PMD) go in a blue bag, paper materials in a yellow bag, food waste in an orange bag, garden waste in a green bag and remaining garbage in a white bag.
Bring glass to one of the many glass containers in the city. Oil can be deposited in the red containers that you find dotted about the city. Once a year, you can have your large household waste picked up for free by Propreté Brussels. Make an appointment for this. The container parks in Brussels are freely accessible for residents of the Brussels-Capital region. Every year, Propreté Brussels organises an opportunity for you to bring all the large household waste from your neighbourhood to a large collection container.
When you move, you will most likely want to register with a doctor who lives in the vicinity. Your new General Practitioner can easily take over your Global Medical Dossier and thus gain access to your medical history. Finding a new doctor is easiest via the Brusselse Huisartsenkring. It also includes an overview that shows where to find the night-time and Sunday emergency doctor. Find other care providers here.
Do you have questions related to mental well-being? Contact CAW Brussel or, if you’re less than 24 years old, the JAC. This website from the government of the Brussels-Capital Region includes info on all sorts of other organisations that will help you with psychological or social problems.
