Rental charges: fixed payment or by provision?
Oct 5, 2023
2 minutes
En investissement locatif, un propriétaire-bailleur peut récupérer une partie des charges de copropriété à son locataire - c'est ce qu'on appelle les charges locatives ou récupérables. Ces charges sont payées directement par le locataire en complément du loyer.
Le montant de ces charges peut varier d'une année à l'autre en fonction du budget et des dépenses de la copropriété. Le paiement se fait par défaut par provision pour certains types de baux, mais le propriétaire peut choisir entre un paiement par provision ou au forfait pour d'autres. Dans tous les cas, les modalités de paiement doivent être bien précisées dans le bail.
Empty location: actual charges
If the property is rented unfurnished and it is not a shared accommodation, the landlord must necessarily opt for a payment by provision, or "actual charges": he asks the tenant every month for a provision for charges and can only recover the amount of the actual expenses incurred over the year. Thus, the landlord sets in the lease a monthly provision for charges, calculated based on previous results during the last regularization of charges or the provisional budget of the co-ownership. Once a year, the landlord will carry out the regularization of charges: if the total provisions are higher than the sum of actual expenses, he will reimburse the difference to the tenant; otherwise, it is the tenant who will owe him the difference.
Furnished location or shared accommodation: actual or flat-rate charges
If the rental is furnished, or if it is an unfurnished rental to roommates, the landlord can choose between actual or flat charges and must specify their choice in the lease.
For flat-rate payment, the amount of the flat charges must be set in the lease and there is no possibility of adjustment. The Alur law specifies that this amount must not be manifestly disproportionate in relation to the actual charges that the tenant has paid. The amount of the flat charges cannot be modified during the lease but can follow the same indexing as the rent. The main advantage of flat-rate charge payments is the simplicity of management. The disadvantage is having no flexibility in case the landlord needs to modify the amount of this flat rate: even if they realize during the lease that they did not account for a certain expense in the flat rate, they will not be able to request a supplement or adjustment from the tenant. Therefore, it is essential to carefully calculate the amount of the flat rate before signing the lease!
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