May 2026: a month under the sign of contractual rigour. The Walloon renovation lease offers a little-known tool to have your tenant finance the works, provided you respect a strict framework. The PIT 2026 return forces landlords to protect themselves with a written annex to preserve their rights on interest paid in 2025. Brussels municipalities are multiplying tax regulations whose legality is contested. And on the ground, landlord scams are spreading. Seven reads to protect your rights through writing.
1. Walloon renovation lease: when your tenant funds your works
Article 50 of the Walloon Decree of 15 March 2018 sets up a little-known contractual mechanism: the renovation lease. The tenant undertakes to carry out, at their own expense, works that normally fall on the landlord, in exchange for defined benefits (notice freeze, review freeze, rent reduction or waiver). Mandatory written form, precise description of the works, execution deadline, joint acceptance: the five requirements to follow scrupulously to prevent the tool from backfiring. Read →
2. Tax return 2026: the annex to file to preserve your 2025 mortgage interest
The Royal Decree of 17 March 2026 removed codes 1146-18 and 2146-85 from the tax return, which allowed mortgage interest to be deducted. An appeal is pending before the Constitutional Court, but its ruling will not arrive before your return is filed. To preserve your rights on a precautionary basis, you must file a written annex with your PIT for tax year 2026, income year 2025. Sample wording and detailed procedure. Read →
3. Why free online lease templates are a trap for landlords
Type "Belgian lease template" into Google: you get hundreds of free documents, sometimes generic, sometimes based on outdated legislation. But residential lease law changed in Brussels on 1 January 2018 then 1 November 2024, in Wallonia on 1 September 2018, in Flanders on 1 January 2019. Three distinct sets of legislation, plus a series of pitfalls: forgotten joint liability clauses, badly drafted personal occupancy clauses, mismatched durations. A tour of the checks to run before signing. Read →
4. Brussels urban planning tax regulations: disguised penalty or legitimate taxation?
Some Brussels municipalities are multiplying tax regulations that specifically target buildings in planning breach (excess unauthorised dwellings, unauthorised changes of use). The Council of State considers them illegal because they punish a situation that falls under criminal law. But first-instance courts remain divided. Analysis of a legal grey zone where the luck of the draw at the bench can make the difference. Read →
5. Landlord scams: the techniques multiplying in 2026
Fake bank guarantees, fake employers with forged certificates, fake tradespeople ringing your doorbell "after inspecting your roof from the street": scams against owner-landlords are spreading. Technological developments help fabricate ever more credible fakes. How to detect them and protect yourself without lapsing into systematic mistrust of honest tenants. Read →
6. Volunteer building manager: the practical guide to a successful transition
Faced with the worsening shortage of professional building managers, Article 3.89 of the new Civil Code expressly allows the co-ownership to appoint a non-professional building manager, a co-owner taking on the function, remunerated or not. The legal conditions (written contract, maximum 3-year term, standardised accounting) and the four steps to move from theory to practice without getting lost in regulatory complexity. Read →
7. General meeting annulment: the checklist to shield your AGMs
Article 3.92 §3 of the co-ownership law allows any co-owner to seek the annulment of an irregular, fraudulent or abusive AGM, provided it causes them personal prejudice. This prejudice requirement is often interpreted strictly by judges, but certain irregularities (incomplete notice, late minutes) automatically tip into annulment. The three-step checklist (before / during / after) to avoid litigation. Read →
Monthly checklist
- For any renovation project funded by the tenant: formalise in writing (art. 50 Walloon Decree 2018), describe the works precisely, set an execution deadline and a single form of counterpart
- For the PIT 2026 return: file the conservatory annex for mortgage interest paid in 2025, and keep proof of filing
- For any new lease: verify you are using an up-to-date template for the region concerned (BRU as of 1 November 2024, WAL as of 1 September 2018, FLA as of 1 January 2019)
- For Brussels properties in a planning grey zone: check the legality of the tax regulation before any payment and consider challenging it
- For each tenant application: cross-check pay slips + recent employer certificate + verification of the bank guarantee directly with the bank
- For co-ownerships looking for a new building manager: seriously consider the volunteer option, sign a written contract of maximum 3 years
- For each AGM: verify the notice specifies the document consultation arrangements, draft the minutes in session and have them signed immediately
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