Housing

Steps

Renting

1. Sign a written lease that states at a minimum the parties, the duration, the rooms, the address and the cadastral reference, the rent excluding service charges, the service charges, the guarantee and the possibility of referring to the rent commission.
2. Set up the guarantee (2 months' rent at most): transfer, bank guarantee, insurance (with the landlord's agreement) or State guarantee for the households entitled to it.
3. Do the move-in inspection, compulsory if you pay a guarantee.
4. Check the energy performance certificate: a certified copy must be given to you.
5. To leave, send your notice within the period provided in the lease (3 months in general).

Buying

1. Sign a compromis de vente (sale agreement): it binds both parties.
2. Sign the deed at a notary's, who collects the duties for the Administration de l'enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA (AED).
3. Request the Bëllegen Akt from the notary when the deed is signed if the home becomes your main residence.
4. Move in within 2 years (4 years for land or a home under construction) and stay there for at least 2 years.

Documents

• Valid identity document.
• Proof of income (employment contract, payslips) requested by the landlord or the agency.
• For the Bëllegen Akt: it is the notary who makes the application in the notarial deed, which must contain your request and your undertakings (to occupy the property, not to change its use, to repay if you do not meet the conditions, to notify the AED in writing within 3 months of any transfer or change of use); you must reside in Luxembourg (registered at the population office of your commune) or undertake to settle in the property.

Costs and timelines

• Rent guarantee: 2 months' rent at most (leases signed since 1 August 2024; up to 3 months for older leases). Returned in two stages; in case of unjustified delay after a formal notice, a 10% increase of the monthly rent per month of delay.
• Rent: at most 5% per year of the capital invested; adjustment at most every 2 years, with an increase of 10% at most. Supplement for a furnished home: 1.5% at most per month of the amount of the invoices (less than 10 years old) for the furniture, shown separately from the rent in the lease.
• Agency fees: split 50/50; any clause to the contrary is void.
• Notice: 3 months for the tenant unless a clause provides otherwise, 6 months for the landlord who takes the home back for personal need. A fixed-term lease not terminated at its expiry becomes an open-ended lease.
• Duties on the purchase of a home: 7% of the price, that is 6% of registration duties and 1% of transcription duties.
• Bëllegen Akt: tax credit on these duties for the purchase of your personal home, provided you actually and personally occupy it. Guichet.lu currently shows a cap of €40,000 per person (page consulted on 23/10/2026, last modification of the page: 07.07.2025). Even with the credit, the AED always collects at least €100 of duties.
• History of the cap: €20,000 before 7 March 2023, €30,000 from 7 March 2023 (law of 16 May 2023), then €40,000 for deeds signed from 1 January 2024 (law of 22 May 2024) to 30 June 2025 (extension: law of 4 April 2025, circular no. 826 of 7 April 2025). Bill no. 8540, voted by the Chamber on 25 June 2025 (parliamentary file no. 8540), makes this €40,000 cap permanent after the temporary measure expired on 30 June 2025 (Chamber of Deputies), which Guichet.lu still displays. The Ministry of Housing has also announced a move to €45,000 for acquisitions from 16 July 2026, subject to the vote of the law (government press release of 16/07/2026: buyers who sign before it enters into force can request the increase from the Administration de l'enregistrement).

Common pitfalls

• Accepting an oral lease or a 3-month "guarantee": since 1 August 2024, this is against the law.
• Paying agency fees alone: half is the landlord's responsibility.
• Abnormally high rent: the rent commission can check it against the capital invested.
• Putting the purchased home up for rent too early: the Bëllegen Akt must be repaid with interest if you let, sell or leave the home before 2 years of occupation.
• Rental scams in a tight market: do not pay any sum before you have visited and signed a written lease.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA: same rules as Luxembourgers; for the Bëllegen Akt, a resident of an EEA country is treated like a Luxembourg resident and does not advance the duties (Guichet.lu). No authorisation specific to foreigners for buying appears on the pages consulted.
• Switzerland: outside the EEA, so treated as a third country for the Bëllegen Akt: if you still live in Switzerland at signing, the credit is only granted once you present a certificate of residence in Luxembourg.
• British nationals (Scots included): same lease and duty rules; outside the EEA, they are treated as a third country for the Bëllegen Akt (certificate of residence in Luxembourg to be presented); the credit presupposes personally occupying the home, so legally residing in it.
• Cross-border workers: the Bëllegen Akt only applies to a home in Luxembourg occupied as a main residence.