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How do people switch rentals in Belgium without risking homelessness?
How do people switch rentals in Belgium without risking homelessness?

At this point I’m getting furious and honestly quite sad about this.

I moved to Belgium because my partner is studying at university here, and we would like to move in together. Currently I’m staying in a shared house where the notice period is 2 months, and my partner also has a 2-month notice period. I know the basic notice period here is 3 months, so I really don’t understand how people are supposed to switch apartments safely.

Most apartments seem to be available immediately or within a few weeks. But I don’t feel safe cancelling my current place before we have a new rental contract signed. On the other hand, if we only cancel after signing a new contract, then we may need to pay double rent for 1–2 months. If we cancel first and then don’t find anything, we could end up with nowhere to live.
So how do locals actually do this? Do people normally cancel first and take the risk? Do they accept double rent as normal? Do landlords usually agree to a later start date? Or do people find a replacement tenant for the old place?

Financially, I think we should be fine. My net salary plus mobility budget for rent is over €4,000, but we are getting rejected even from €900 apartments. Real estate agents don’t really communicate straightforwardly, they just say “you were not chosen.”
I can guess different reasons: maybe because I only have one Belgian payslip so far, although my previous salary was pretty similar, or maybe because my partner is a student with no income. But I always communicate clearly that I will be the main tenant and that I can afford the rent alone.

I understand the market is tight, but housing has been harder than job searching. I left my life in another country to make this work, and now I’m really confused about how can we move together here without taking a huge risk.
What is the normal strategy in Belgium? And what happens if your notice period ends but you still haven’t found a new place?


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One of my favorite places in Gent, the Greenhouse in the Botanical Garden
One of my favorite places in Gent, the Greenhouse in the Botanical Garden
  • r/Gent - One of my favorite places in Gent, the Greenhouse in the Botanical Garden
  • r/Gent - One of my favorite places in Gent, the Greenhouse in the Botanical Garden