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Luxembourg Information · Joined: 16 Oct 2006 Posts: 17 Home Country: luxembourg

HOUSING IN LUXEMBOURG

Finding a nice place to live is always difficult. Luxembourg is no exception - getting the right accomodation can be hard, especially in large cities. Read our guide to room and flat rental and for buying an apartment. Check out the classifieds for available property and people looking to share flats.

The rental market in Luxembourg

Housing costs in Luxembourg reflect the general level of prosperity the Duchy has enjoyed, and rentals can be difficult to find, particularly in Luxembourg City. Many of the Duchy’s workers (over half, in fact) commute each day from neighbouring Belgium, France or Germany, where housing costs are generally lower.

Home ownership is popular and on the increase. Around three-quarters of Luxembourgers own their own homes, often building their dream home on a purchased plot of land.

If you’re coming to live in Luxembourg for less than five years, you’ll probably find that renting is the easiest (and in some cases, the most economical) solution. It’s also the answer for those who don’t want the trouble, expense and restrictions associated with buying property. Even if you’re likely to be staying in the region indefinitely, it’s wise to start in rented premises until you’ve got to know the customs and legalities of buying and owning property.

Rental property in Luxembourg can be difficult to find, particularly at short notice, and rents are generally high. The expatriate community is a good source of information on houses and apartments for rent, especially if you want to avoid estate agency fees, which amount to as much as two or three months’ rent. Estate agencies are open only limited hours and very often aren’t open at all at weekends. If you do use agencies, make sure you keep track of the properties you’ve seen; if you view the same property twice with a different agency and decide to rent it, you could end up paying two agency fees! Unfortunately, you can’t find a house for rent (or for sale) in Luxembourg by ‘sign hunting’, as owners don’t normally post signs on available properties.

Most property in Luxembourg is rented unfurnished, which may mean there’s a kitchen sink, but not much else. You must normally provide your own carpets, curtains, curtain rods, light fittings and most kitchen appliances. If you view a house or flat before the old tenants move out, you may be able to arrange to buy their appliances and fixtures. Furnished rentals are available (at higher rents) and include everything you need, right down to crockery, kitchen utensils and bed linen. If you rent a furnished property, make sure you understand who’s responsible for insuring the contents.

How to find a place to live

There are a number of ways to find a property to rent, including the following:

* Ask friends, relatives and acquaintances to look out for suitable accommodation, particularly if you’re looking in the area where you already live. A lot of rental properties are found by word of mouth, particularly in cities with large expatriate or transient populations.

* Look at advertisements in local newspapers (including free ones) and magazines.

* Visit accommodation and letting agents. Most cities and large towns have estate agents (agences immobilières) who also act as letting agents for owners. It’s often better to deal with an agent than directly with owners, particularly regarding contracts and legal matters.

* Look at advertisements in shop windows and on notice boards in shopping centres, supermarkets, universities and colleges and company offices.

* Walk through neighbourhoods you think you might like to live in and look for ‘to let’ signs (à louer) on suitable properties.

* Read newsletters published by churches, clubs and expatriate organisations or ask at international schools or other places where expats and their families congregate.

Most rental properties in Luxembourg are let unfurnished, which means that you must provide most fittings and fixtures, including ceiling lamps, kitchen cupboards, appliances and often floor coverings. Furnished properties (meublé) are rare and often difficult to find except for short-term stays, generally less than a year.

Rental agreement

Once you’ve found a house or apartment to rent, you’ll have to negotiate and finalise a lease, or rental contract. You should read the lease carefully before signing it and, if you have doubts or questions about any of the terms, have them translated or explained to you.

You should read the lease carefully before signing it and, if you have doubts or questions about any of the terms, have them translated or explained to you.

A lease will identify the property you’re renting, including both the street address and the apartment (either by number or location). If there are additional rooms or privileges included in the basic rental, such as access to a laundry room, garage, parking space or storage facilities, these should be noted in the lease. If you’re renting a semi-furnished or partially equipped unit, this should also be noted, along with an indication of what equipment or fittings are included.

A lease will indicate the amount of your monthly rent, the date it is to be paid and possibly the method of payment (many landlords require you to set up a standing order with your bank), plus any penalties for late payment. It should also include details of annual rent increases, which are usually indexed, as well as the procedure for increasing the rent above this amount. In addition to your rent, you’ll be required to pay an estimated monthly amount for.

Your lease should also include the amount and conditions of the damage deposit. When you move out, you’ll be expected to return the house or apartment to the condition it was in when you took over; if you fail to do so, the landlord can use your deposit to cover the cost of making any necessary repairs. The deposit will usually be held until the last common charges have been determined and settled, so it can be a year or more after you leave before you receive your deposit refund!

Most landlords require a deposit of one to three months’ rent. If possible, you should arrange to have this money held in an interest-bearing account, usually a blocked account that requires authorisation from both you and the landlord before the funds can be released. Some landlords will accept a bank guarantee for the amount of the deposit. You can arrange this through your bank, usually for a small annual fee. Beware of landlords who attempt to include a clause requiring you to return the property to ‘perfect’ condition rather than to the condition in which you received it. If you agree to such a clause, you could be faced with major renovation costs to cover previous tenants’ wear and tear as well as your own.

Other terms and conditions that may appear in the lease include notice periods and penalties for breaking the lease. Tenants’ rights are extremely well protected under most standard leases in Luxembourg. Evicting a tenant, even one who has caused considerable problems, is a process that can take months or even years, and the circumstances under which a landlord may evict a tenant are severely limited. In most cases, he must give a long notice period and pay you substantial penalties (which doesn’t mean you should make a habit of getting yourself evicted from rented accommodation!). For this reason, most landlords insist on verifying your employment, residence and income details before accepting you as a tenant. If you want to terminate the lease, there are standard notice periods and procedures to follow, and sometimes penalties to be paid. It has become common practice to include a so-called ‘diplomatic clause’ in the standard lease form. This permits you to terminate your lease at 30 days’ notice if you have to move owing to your employment, i.e. you’re transferred at short notice or you change jobs.

A standard rental contract in Luxembourg is written for a fixed term of three years. If you’re on a shorter assignment, you can ask for a one or two-year lease or have a diplomatic clause inserted into the standard lease agreement. You’re usually required to give three months’ written notice to break or terminate a lease. With a diplomatic clause, you can shorten this to a month, but your move must be related to your employment, i.e. either a change of job or a transfer. Apart from the basic rent, you must pay a monthly contribution towards common charges (often even if you’re renting a detached house).

Tenants in Luxembourg are often subject to weekly or monthly cleaning duties if the building has no concierge or superintendent to take care of common areas.

Common charges, house rules and inventory

Common charges are the monthly fees you pay for the services you share with your neighbours in the same building (or sometimes within the same complex or housing estate).

Each month, you’re required to pay an estimated amount towards the maintenance and repair of common areas (e.g. hallways, lobby, grounds, lifts), the cost of the concierge or building manager, water supplies and sewerage and other shared utilities, including heating and hot water if these are provided on a communal basis. At the end of the year, the actual cost of these services is assessed and each tenant is charged a share, based on the size of his apartment or other criteria stipulated in the lease. If you’ve paid too much, you’ll receive a credit on your following month’s rent payment; if you’ve underpaid, you’ll be asked to make up the difference. Your estimated monthly payment is then adjusted for the following year.

Common charges typically add 10 to 20 per cent to the base rent, depending on what is covered and how the allocation is determined. When you move out of your apartment, it’s customary for the landlord to retain your damage deposit until the last of the common charges have been settled, which can take a year or more. Note that in Luxembourg there are no tenants’ or owners’ associations to which you can belong in order to have a say in how much you’re charged.

House Rules

Most apartment blocks have house rules, some of which may be formulated by the local commune and be enforceable by law. You should receive a copy of the house rules on moving into an apartment or when you sign a rental or sales contract, but it’s wise to review them before you agree to rent or buy a home, as they can affect your use and enjoyment of the common facilities (sometimes they will even restrict the colour of the curtains you can hang in your windows!). If you don’t understand the rules, have them translated; ignorance is no excuse for breaking house rules.

Common house rules include restrictions on the use of hallways for storing bicycles or children’s toys; noise (particularly late at night), including the flushing of toilets or running of showers after 10pm; use of lifts by unaccompanied children or for moving furniture or other large items; use of the balconies or visible terraces for hanging laundry or mounting satellite dishes; and parking by residents and guests. Rules may also cover the rotation of cleaning duties for hallways or common areas where there’s no concierge or maintenance staff, responsibility for locking communal entrances at night and the collection of rubbish.

Inventory

One of the most important tasks on moving into a new apartment or home is to complete an inventory and condition report (état des lieux). This includes the state of the fixtures and fittings (if there are any), the cleanliness and condition of the decoration and any items missing or in need of repair.

The procedure varies, but in general all problems and damages are listed on a form which is signed by both the tenant and the landlord, or the vendor and the buyer in the case of a sale. Most leases require the tenant to restore the property to ‘move-in’ condition, and it’s the inventory report which establishes what that condition was.

Any damages that aren’t noted on the inventory list when you move in will be charged to you when you move out, so you should make sure that you check a property thoroughly and that the inventory list is complete before you sign it. Once you’ve moved in, it can be difficult (or impossible) to persuade the owner to repair anything, as you’ll be responsible for all interior maintenance and decoration. If you’re buying a house or apartment, the inventory should itemise any unfinished work or repairs that the vendor has agreed to remedy. If possible, this list, along with deadlines for completing the work, should be submitted to the notary prior to the transfer of the property so that it becomes part of the sales contract.

When renting property in Luxembourg, you should inspect the vacant house or apartment for damage or repairs that need to be made before you move in. Send a list to the landlord and ask for written confirmation in return, indicating when repairs or other work will be done.


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