Letting of legally settled property

This information is contained in the title deeds of the property, which a good property manager will always check. It makes no difference if a property is mortgaged or has a mortgage on it, or if there is a prohibition on alienation or encumbrance, but a right of use or usufruct may affect the letting.

Joint ownership

If there are several owners, all of them can rent the property jointly, but it is also possible for the owners to authorise one owner to conclude the rental contract. This does not mean that only the person who signs the lease can benefit from the rent. The owners can agree freely, for example, one of them may renovate the property and receive the rent until it is paid back. In this case, it is worth bearing in mind that the value of the property may increase with the investment, which the parties may also take into account when settling accounts with each other.

Where there are several owners, the nature of the property may mean that it can be divided, for example, into several separate flats or parts of a house. In this case, it is advisable to establish a use agreement to define the parts of the property that are to be used exclusively by the parties and those that are to be shared. In this way, the part of the property under exclusive use can be rented out by the co-owner without the consent of the other party.

Beneficial ownership

Where there is a beneficial owner of the property, the beneficial owner is entitled to lease the property if the owner does not otherwise wish to use the property with the same interests. If the owner does not make use of this right, the beneficial owner alone is entitled to let the property.

Right of use

The right of use is narrower than the right of usufruct in that the user himself and his family members living with him are entitled to use the property, but are not entitled to rent it out.