Agency fees on a Luxembourg rental: who pays what since the reform

Until August 2024 it was common for a tenant in Luxembourg to pay the entire estate agency commission on a rental, on top of a deposit of up to three months and a first month's rent in advance. The entry cost of a tenancy could therefore run to four or five months of rent before a single night had been spent in the flat. The 2024 reform changed that in two places at once, and the combined effect on what you need in the bank on day one is substantial.

The rule

For every new lease concluded from 1 August 2024, estate agency commission must be shared equally, fifty-fifty, between the landlord and the tenant. This applies regardless of which party engaged the agency, and any clause in the lease providing otherwise is void and of no effect.

The wording matters. It is not a default that can be contracted around, and it is not conditional on who instructed the agent. A landlord who engaged an agency to find a tenant, and a tenant who engaged an agency to find a flat, both arrive at the same split.

What this does to the entry cost

The reform reduced two items at once. Taking an apartment at a rent of €2,000 per month, with a commission of one month plus VAT as an illustration:

• Before: deposit of up to three months, first month's rent, and potentially the whole commission. Roughly five months of rent to find.
• After: deposit capped at two months, first month's rent, and half the commission. Roughly three and a half months.

On a €2,000 apartment that is a difference of around €3,000 at the moment of moving in, which is precisely the moment when a new arrival has also paid for a move, possibly for temporary accommodation, and has not yet received a Luxembourg salary. It is the most practically useful part of the whole reform.

What to check before you pay

• Ask for the invoice. You are entitled to see what the total commission is, not merely what your share is said to be.
• Check the arithmetic. Your share should be half of the total, and the treatment of VAT should be visible and consistent.
• Check the lease for a contrary clause. A clause allocating the whole fee to the tenant is void, but it is easier to point that out before signing than afterwards.
• Confirm what the fee covers. Viewing, drafting, the inventory and registration are normally within the service. Charges presented separately for producing a standard document deserve a question.
• Beware of fees for applying. Charging a prospective tenant simply to submit an application or to view a property is not how a professional agency operates here.

The other entry costs, so the whole picture is visible

• The rental guarantee, now capped at two months' rent, held either as a blocked bank deposit or as a bank guarantee. The bank will charge for issuing a guarantee.
• The first month's rent in advance.
• The charges provision for the first month, where charges are separate.
• Home contents and occupier's liability insurance, which most Luxembourg leases require and for which the certificate is frequently requested before the keys are handed over.
• Utility connections in an unfurnished let, where a supplier may require a first payment.
• The move itself.

Add these up before you commit to a viewing schedule, because they determine what you can realistically take rather than what you would like to.

If you are a landlord

The reform shifts half the commission onto the owner, and the sensible response is to treat it as part of the cost of letting rather than as something to be recovered through a side arrangement. Attempts to structure around the split, by inflating a first month's rent or by invoicing the tenant for services that are really the agency's work, are the kind of thing that produces a dispute and a void clause.

The more productive question is what the commission buys. A properly conducted letting produces a compliant lease, a defensible inventory, a checked tenant and a documented deposit. Those four things are what prevent the disputes that cost far more than a commission.

What a rental commission should actually buy

Since the fee is now shared, both sides have an interest in knowing what it covers. A properly conducted letting produces the following, and if it does not, the fee is for opening a door.

• A compliant lease reflecting the current law, with the required statements on the rent ceiling and the rent commission.
• A detailed, photographed entry inventory, signed by both parties, which is what the guarantee will be settled against.
• Tenant verification: identity, employment, income and references, conducted properly.
• The guarantee correctly constituted, within the two-month limit, in a blocked account or as a bank guarantee.
• A clear statement of what the rent includes, and the basis on which charges are provisioned and reconciled.
• Handover of the building's internal rules, which are applicable to the tenant and are rarely provided unasked.
• An invoice showing the total commission and the split.

Ask for these before paying rather than after. The items on this list are precisely the ones whose absence produces a dispute eighteen months later.

Three questions we are asked

My lease says I pay the full fee. Is it enforceable?

Not for a lease concluded from 1 August 2024. The law imposes the equal split and states that a contrary clause is void and without effect. Raise it in writing, calmly, with a reference to the rule.

Does the split apply if I found the flat myself and there is no agency?

If no agency is involved there is no commission to split. The rule governs how an agency's commission is allocated, not whether one must be charged.

What is a normal commission on a Luxembourg rental?

Practice varies, and one month's rent plus VAT is a common reference point in the market. Rather than compare against a rule of thumb, ask what the total is and what it covers, and then apply the fifty-fifty split to the answer.

How we handle this

Our rental invoices show the total commission and the split, because a tenant who can see the arithmetic does not have to trust us on it. If you have been quoted a fee that does not look right, send us the paperwork.

Current availability is on our rentals page .

A final point on timing. The commission is normally invoiced at the point the lease is signed, alongside the guarantee and the first month's rent, which means all three fall in the same week. Ask for the figures in advance and in writing, so that you know the total before you commit to a viewing schedule rather than on the day the keys are due. An agency that will not put the numbers in an email before signature is telling you something about how the rest of the tenancy will be administered.

Time is the hidden unit behind the other entry costs, so the whole picture is visible. For the question raised by “The other entry costs, so the whole picture is visible”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

For what a rental commission should actually buy, note what you can see, what you can measure, what you need to ask and what would be expensive to change. For the question raised by “The other entry costs, so the whole picture is visible”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

A stronger reading of if you are a landlord starts by asking what would change for the resident on an ordinary weekday.