The information below is only a rough guide and we strongly recommend that you seek the advice of professionals before making decisions or engaging yourself in a real-estate project.

Termination by the tenant 

You can terminate the lease at any time. To do this, you have to send a registered letter with an acknowledgement of receipt to your landlord at least three months before your departure. This time limit is effective from the day the landlord receives the registered letter. However, in the case of getting a first job, a transfer, loss of employment or obtaining a new job after losing an existing job, you may give the landlord one month’s notice.

During the notice period, you must continue to pay the rent and charges. You must also allow the landlord to show the premises to potential tenants for at least two hours a day, but only on weekdays.

In your registered letter announcing your intended departure, ask the landlord to fix a date to go over the inventory. Following this inventory, the landlord must reimburse you your deposit.

Termination by the landlord 

A landlord, who wishes to terminate a lease, can only do this at the end of the lease and for the following three reasons only:

1. To sell the property. In the case of selling the premises, the tenant has, however, the right of pre-emption. In your termination letter, you must specify the asking price. The tenant then has two months to react and if he is in agreement to purchase the premises, he is entitled to two additional months to close the sale. On the other hand, if the tenant does not want to buy, nothing prevents him from occupying the premises until the lease is over.
2.  To live in the property. You can give notice to occupy the premises as your main residence. However, if you intend a third party to occupy the premises, this person(s) must be one of your ancestors or descendents, or those of your spouse. You can give the tenant notice by stipulating the reason and giving the names and addresses of the person(s) who will be the beneficiaries of the repossession. (After this, you cannot change the reason or the beneficiary). In this case, the tenant has no recourse.
3. For a serious and legitimate reason. You can give notice to the tenant for a serious and legitimate reason. This includes for example, failure on behalf of the tenant to meet his obligations (non-payment or repeated late payment of rent and poor maintenance of the premises). Circumstances beyond your control also form a part of serious and legitimate reasons (demolition of the building).

In these three scenarios, notice must be given in the form of a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by legal notice, six months before the lease expires. In the case of a registered letter, the six-month notice period is effective from the day the letter is received.