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moving out of flat, what things should i do before i move out
I am in the process of moving out of my flat and I plan to leave in May. I am in the process of buying a flat. what steps should I take in preparation for moving out?
when to inform the landlord, water, electricity, internet and telephone? house insurance?
what preparation should I do for the new flat that I am moving into?
any advice would be of great help.
Normal notification period regarding Landlord would be 3 months depending on the type of contract that you have: 3 yrs, 6yrs or 9yrs.
This should be done by registered letter.
For the services: water, electricity, internet and telephone normal notification is one month.
http://www.belgium.be/en/housing/renting_a_home/
To help eliminate any discrepancies, type and print out the date onto a blank piece of paper and place next to the water and electricity metre.
Then take photographs that clearly show the numbers on the water and electricity metre readings and then send them by with an email note and in the attachment send them the photographs of the water and electricity readings to the companies and keep an electronic copy for yourself.
Also notify your local police station, commune/city hall that you are moving and get a letter that has registered stamps and signatures that show the date you moved to another commune.
The more official registered paper documents, with stamps and signatures that you get from official government authorities the better.
Get everything issued to you in writing, with paper copies that you should keep.
Just a piece of additional advice, the process that "Anonymous" above described of taking photographs etc of your meters and emailing them is a complete waste of time and the utility companies would be perfectly in their rights to completely ignore it.
1) Don't assume that e-mail is a legal form of communication (to be on the safe side, always use registered mail and keep your receipts), and
2) There are standard forms that you can get from all the utility companies that you complete and sign, typically on the day you leave, when you sign over the accounts to the landlord (or the new tennant).
The water and other utility companies have your signature accepting responsibility for paying for any usage.
The only way that they will release you from that obligation is when they get the signature of someone else taking over responsibility OR when their representative reads the meter. If you choose the second option, you pay for the service and the next user pays again when they take over.
As Anon says above, typically the new tenant will accept responsibility on a standard form or, if the place is not let, the landlord will - and will probably have one of the blank forms.
A photograph of a meter reading and a date is meaningless - you could put any date in the future and take the photo today.
As you are moving to a new address in Belgium - even if it is only next door - as soon as you register at your new address, your registration at your old one will automatically be cancelled; you do not have to tell anyone.
some utility companies can provide contracts for "maison vide" (empty house) which basically keeps all the services up and running to a minimum level so the landlord can show the apartment if needed and nothing gets cut just because the tenant left the building.
but it is more a landlord problem than yours. You just advise that as of .... you do not require their services and provide the reading of the meters.
Then the utility company will contact the owner to suggest the type of contract he wants to undertake.
