European property law
Squatters' rights in Belgium: adverse possession, the 2017 squatting law and eviction
Ten years for a possessor in good faith, which the law now presumes, and thirty for one in bad faith. Occupying someone else's building without right has been a criminal offence since November 2017.
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- Statutory period
- 10 or 30 years
- What's different here
- good faith is presumed, so 10 years is the default since 2021
- Statute
- Civil Code, art. 3.27
Book 3 of the new Civil Code, in force since 1 September 2021, rewrote acquisitive prescription. Under article 3.27 the period for real property is ten years, rising to thirty where the possessor was in bad faith when possession began. The old requirement of a "just title" is gone and good faith is presumed, so the ten-year period applies unless the owner shows bad faith. Someone who knowingly occupies another person's building would ordinarily be in bad faith, but under the new rules it is for the owner to prove it.
The law of 18 October 2017, in force since 16 November 2017, made squatting a crime. Occupying a property someone lives in is punished as a home invasion with 15 days to 2 years in prison and a fine, and occupying an uninhabited property with 8 days to one month and a fine. The same law created a civil eviction procedure before the justice of the peace, under which an eviction can be carried out eight days after the judgment is served. A power it gave the public prosecutor to order an evacuation on the owner's request was struck down by the Constitutional Court on 12 March 2020, because an eviction order requires an independent judge.
Belgian law forbids taking justice into one's own hands. An owner who removes occupants without a court decision, by changing the locks, cutting water or electricity, or physically putting them out, acts unlawfully and can be prosecuted. Once a judge has ordered the eviction, it is carried out with the police.
Where Belgium sits against the rest of Europe, in years
Of 31 places in Europe on these pages, 3 have a shorter clock and 10 a longer one or none at all.
How it unfolds
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After 10 or 30 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
Before it is ever a court case
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
How long is squatters' rights in Belgium?
Ten years of possession in good faith, which is presumed, or thirty years where the possessor was in bad faith at the start, under article 3.27 of the Civil Code as reformed on 1 September 2021. Before that date the default was thirty years, with ten or twenty only for good faith plus a just title.
Is squatting illegal in Belgium?
Yes, since the law of 18 October 2017. Occupying an inhabited property carries 15 days to 2 years in prison and a fine; occupying an uninhabited one carries 8 days to one month and a fine. Refusing to leave after an eviction order is a further offence.
How are squatters evicted in Belgium?
The owner applies to the justice of the peace under the procedure the 2017 law created. The eviction can take place eight days after the judgment is served, with the police. The prosecutor-ordered evacuation in the original law was annulled by the Constitutional Court in 2020.
Can an owner remove squatters themselves in Belgium?
No. Changing the locks, cutting utilities or putting occupants out without a court decision is self-help eviction, which the law forbids and which can itself lead to prosecution.
Elsewhere in Europe
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.
Know who is actually in your property, before it becomes a court case.
Hand over one building and see every lease checked against what is actually happening on the ground.
14 days before the first charge · Nothing is switched on until you say so