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Annual Boiler Check
Hello,
My husband and I are currently renting in Brussels under a 3 year rental agreement. Our landlord has just informed us that we would need to carry out the annual boiler check for the house with the costs (about 300euros) fully covered by us. Apparently this is stipulated in the rental agreement which neither my husband nor I read in detail before signing it mainly because of our very limited understanding of French.
Is this requirement normal in Belgium? Secondly, is the annual boiler checks a legal requirement in Belgium and can we claim tax refund on it?
We are both from the UK where it is normally the landlord's responsibility to conduct such annual legal checks (gas safety, etc) at the Landlord's own costs.
Yes, unlike the UK, in Belgium, the renter bears all the financial responsiblity for property maintenance. The annual boiler inspection is one such bill. The annual chimmney cleaning is another. You will need both bills and certificates in hand for each year you are in the house. Hold on to these and have them handy on move out day also. Tax refund? Not that I've heard. Another bill that often comes to the renter is the maintenance on the alarm system. If you are in a building with other apartments, there will also be an annual "common charges" bill. That's your's too.
This topic is can be con"troll"versial on this board. You may get some nasty comments about signing stuff that you can't read and other tripe about it "not being the UK".
Ignore most of it...but now's the time, since you're more settled, to get out that dictionary and read your lease closely. Hope this helps.
