How to clear a flat when you move out of Brussels
Decide early what you are taking, then have everything else collected from inside the home a few days before you hand back the keys. That one collection takes the sofa you will not ship, the bed frame from the spare room, the washing machine that belongs to you and the boxes of odds and ends from the cellar.
We work in all 19 communes, and the conversation is in English. You send photos of each room, the cellar and any storage box, you get one fixed price, and a two-person crew comes with a box truck at the agreed time. The crew carries everything out and loads it; for a flat higher up, your photos show whether large pieces need a lift, and that is part of the fixed price. You do not have to carry anything down to the pavement or find a van. Doing it yourself with a rented van also means checking the height rules: a vehicle over 1.85 m high may only unload at Demets or Recypark Humanité in Forest, and only Humanité takes a high van that tows a trailer. See how a collection works, step by step.
End-of-lease clearance in Brussels: the exit inspection
The end of a lease in Brussels usually comes with an exit inspection (état des lieux de sortie / plaatsbeschrijving bij vertrek), where the flat is compared with its condition when you moved in. What you must remove, and what may stay, depends on your lease and on what you agree with your landlord, so settle that before you plan the clearance. This page does not give legal advice on leases or inspections.
In practice, plan the clearance before the inspection, not after it. An empty flat, an empty cellar and an empty storage box are easier to check. If the inspection is on a weekday morning, a collection a day or two before gives you time to sweep up.
Why furniture on the pavement is not a solution
Putting furniture on the pavement on your last evening is not a way out. Outside an official collection, it counts as illegal dumping. Bruxelles-Propreté removes abandoned waste at the expense of the person who left it, or of the occupant or owner of the premises, and fines come on top. Our page on illegal dumping fines in Brussels gives the amounts, including the City of Brussels rate of €1,000 per m³.
Moving abroad from Brussels: clearing a furnished flat
If you are leaving Belgium, the usual problem is time: the shipping company takes what you keep, and everything else must go before your flight. A clearance booked for a fixed day, a few days before the handover, takes that pressure off.
Most people moving abroad leave the bulky, low-value pieces behind: a large wardrobe, a mattress, a fridge and freezer, a desk, a sofa that will not fit the new place. Send us photos of what stays, tell us your commune and floor, and we fix the price and the day. The crew carries it all out on the agreed day, so you hand back the keys to an empty home. If friends or the next tenant are taking a few pieces, just tell us what to leave. Small rubbish from your last weeks still goes out in the right bags, as our Brussels waste guide for expats explains.
What a moving-out clearance in Brussels costs
The price of a moving-out clearance depends mostly on volume, then on access (the floor, whether bulky pieces need a lift, how far the truck can park), the state of the property and how much can be reused. It is fixed from your photos before the job, it is never an hourly rate, and nothing is added on the day. These are the usual levels; the full explanation is on our clearance prices page.
| What you leave behind | Usual price |
|---|---|
| A small clear-out: a cellar, an attic, a garage or a room's worth | €250–600 |
| A studio or small flat | €250–900 |
| An apartment or terraced house | €800–1,550 |
| A large family house | €1,500–2,500 |
| A very large or long-neglected home | €2,500–5,000+ |
What the moving-out price includes
The price includes the two-person crew, all lifting and carrying out of the home, the truck and transport, and the sorting and the disposal or recycling fees. Weekend and urgent same-week jobs cost more, and weekdays cost less, so it pays to book as soon as you know your date.
Moving-out timeline for clearing furniture in Brussels
Work backwards from the day you hand back the keys. The clearance is one appointment, so most of the work is deciding what goes.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| As soon as you know your date | List every item you will not take, room by room, including the cellar, attic and any storage box. |
| Three to four weeks before | Send us photos of what stays behind, get a fixed price and agree a collection day, ideally a weekday. |
| Two weeks before | Sell or hand over anything a friend or colleague wants, and tell us if the list changes. |
| The last week | Empty and defrost the fridge if it goes, and pack what you keep apart from what we take. |
| Collection day | The crew carries everything out and loads the truck; you only need to show what goes. |
| Handover day | Nothing left in the rooms, in the shared hallway, in the cellar or on the pavement. |
What we take when you move out, and what we don't
We take almost everything a household leaves behind in a flat or house. That includes furniture such as sofas, armchairs, beds, mattresses, wardrobes, tables, desks and bookcases; appliances such as fridges, freezers, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, ovens and TVs; and household contents such as boxes, clothes, toys, kitchenware, books and bikes.
A few things stay out of the truck: garden and green waste such as branches, cuttings and soil, renovation rubble, plasterboard and tiles, asbestos, hazardous chemicals, paint in quantity, solvents and fuels, gas bottles, large volumes of tyres and clinical waste. If the cellar or a lock-up garage is part of the move, see garage, attic and cellar clearance in Brussels; if a parent's home is being emptied at the same time, see estate clearance in Brussels.
House clearance when you leave a whole home in Brussels
When you leave a whole flat or house rather than a few pieces, the job becomes a house clearance: every room, the cellar, the attic and the garage emptied in one go. That is common when a family moves abroad with only suitcases, or when a long tenancy ends and years of belongings have to go.
The process is the same, with more photos: you show us each room, and we fix one price for the whole home. Our page on house clearance in Brussels explains how a full clear-out is planned and priced, and the communes page confirms we work in yours.
Where your furniture goes after a moving-out clearance
What we collect is sorted, not thrown into one skip. Usable furniture goes to reuse organisations, appliances go to registered electrical (WEEE) recycling, and wood, metal, cardboard and textiles go to the right recycling streams. Nothing is dumped illegally.
That matters for you as well: illegal collection of waste is itself an offence in the Brussels Region, and a sofa that ends up in another street is still a dumped sofa. If you are comparing offers, ask every company where the items end up.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put my furniture on the street when I move out in Brussels?
No. Furniture left on the pavement outside an official collection counts as illegal dumping, and the removal can be charged to the occupant or owner as well as to whoever left it. Have it collected from inside the flat instead.
How much does it cost to clear a flat when moving out of Brussels?
A studio or small flat is usually priced between €250 and €900, and an apartment or terraced house between €800 and €1,550. The exact price is fixed from photos before the job, and nothing is added on the day.
Can you collect just before I hand back the keys?
Yes. We agree the date and time with you, so you can plan the collection around your handover. Weekdays cost less than weekends, and urgent same-week jobs cost more, so book as soon as you know your moving date.
Do you take the fridge and washing machine when I move out?
Yes. Fridges, freezers, washing machines, dryers and other appliances are carried out with the rest and go to registered electrical recycling.
Do you clear just a sofa and a bed when I move out?
Not on their own. We take on clearances of a room's worth or more, so a sofa and a bed are best added to the rest of what stays behind: the cellar, the storage box, the boxes in the spare room. Send photos of everything that has to go and you get one price for the lot.
Can I leave my furniture in the flat for the next tenant?
Only if you agree it with your landlord. Check your lease and settle which items stay before the exit inspection, then tell us what to leave behind.
Official sources for this page
- environnement.brussels/citoyen/reglementation-et-inspection/obligations-et-autorisations/tri-des-dechets-quelles-sont-vos-obligations
- arp-gan.be/fr/les-amendes
- bruxelles.be/lutte-contre-les-incivilites
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