What a Luxembourg landlord pays to let through an agency, and what changed on 1 August 2024

If you let a flat in Luxembourg and an estate agent is involved, a law that took effect on 1 August 2024 changed who pays that agent. This article sets out what the law says, which leases it binds, what happens to a lease clause that says something else — and, just as importantly, what the law does not do.

Every figure and every legal sentence below is linked to its source at the foot of the page.

The instrument, and the date

The change was made by the loi du 23 juillet 2024, which amended the 2006 law on residential leases and Article 1714 of the Civil Code. It was published in Mémorial A n° 311 on 25 July 2024, and its Article 13 sets entry into force as the first day of the month following publication — so 1 August 2024.

The date matters more than the name, and the Ministry of Housing states it in plain words: from 1 August, "les frais d'agences immobilières sont partagés entre le locataire et le propriétaire" — estate agency fees are shared between tenant and landlord.

What the rule actually says

The operative sentence now sits in Article 5, paragraph 1, second subparagraph of the 2006 law:

« En cas d'intervention d'un agent immobilier ou d'un autre tiers dans la location d'un logement à usage d'habitation, les frais et honoraires de ces personnes sont partagés par moitié entre le bailleur et le locataire. »

Where an estate agent or other third party is involved in letting a dwelling, that person's fees and charges are shared half and half between landlord and tenant.

The Ministry's own FAQ removes the question every landlord asks next:

« Cela s'applique peu importe qui a engagé l'agence immobilière, que ce soit le propriétaire ou le locataire. »

It applies regardless of who engaged the agency — landlord or tenant. Instructing the agent yourself does not make the fee yours alone, and it does not make it the tenant's alone either.

It binds leases concluded from 1 August 2024

This is the part that gets dropped in summaries. The 2024 reform inserted a transitional provision — Article 33 bis (2) — which ring-fences the new rules to contracts concluded after entry into force. The Ministry's FAQ says the same thing in plain words: "Pour tous les nouveaux contrats de bail conclus à partir du 1er août 2024…"

If you are holding a lease signed before 1 August 2024, the pre-2024 wording continues to apply to it. The new 50/50 rule is not retroactive.

A lease clause that says otherwise is void

Article 5, paragraph 5 of the 2006 law ends with a general rule:

« Toutes autres stipulations inscrites dans les contrats de bail et destinées à priver d'effet une disposition de la présente loi sont nulles de plein droit. »

Any other stipulation written into a lease and intended to deprive a provision of this law of effect is automatically void. The Ministry states the consequence for this specific rule without the legal machinery: "Toute clause du contrat de bail qui dit le contraire est à considérer comme nulle et sans effet" — any lease clause that says the contrary is to be treated as null and without effect.

Practically: a clause making the tenant bear the whole agency fee does not shift the cost. It is simply not there.

What the law does not do: it splits the fee, it does not cap it

The rule allocates. It does not set a ceiling, a scale, or a method of calculation. Nothing in the text above says what an agency may charge — only that whatever it charges is divided in two.

So the number that decides whether letting through an agency is worth it to you is still your agency's fee schedule, and it is still a thing you negotiate.

The arithmetic, with your number — not ours

We are not going to tell you what Luxembourg agencies charge. There is no official publication of agency fee levels, and a confident-sounding market average with no source behind it is exactly the kind of number this blog exists not to print.

What we can anchor is the rent, because that is published. According to the Observatoire de l'Habitat, over the twelve months to 30 June 2026 the average advertised rent for an apartment was €1,842.6 per month nationally and €2,032.4 in Luxembourg City. These are advertised rents taken from listings, not the rents finally agreed in signed leases — the Observatoire is explicit about that distinction.

So if you want your own figure, the arithmetic is one line:

your share = (the agency's fee) ÷ 2

And for scale, if an agency's fee happened to equal one month's rent at the national average advertised level, half of it would be about €921. That is an illustration built on a published rent and an assumption you supply — not a claim about what agencies charge.

Where Lurent fits

Lurent is being built as a direct landlord-to-tenant rental platform for Luxembourg, with no agency in the middle and therefore no agency commission to split. It is not live yet, and this article is not a price list — when there is something to announce about what Lurent costs, it will be announced somewhere other than a blog post.

What the 1 August 2024 rule changes is the question in front of you: letting through an agency now has a cost with your name on half of it, whoever signed the agency up.

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Sources

1. Loi du 23 juillet 2024 (Mémorial A n° 311)Legilux
2. Loi modifiée du 21 septembre 2006 sur le bail à usage d'habitation, consolidated textLegilux
3. FAQ — Bail à loyerMinistère du Logement et de l'Aménagement du territoire
4. Révision du bail à loyer (campaign page, 01.08.2024)Ministère du Logement et de l'Aménagement du territoire
5. Prix de location (2026 T2)Observatoire de l'Habitat
6. Offres et prix annoncés de location des appartements, 2026 T2 (XLS)Observatoire de l'Habitat

All sources accessed on 13 October 2026.

This article describes the law as published. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every case.

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026. Articles citing a legal rule or a price are re-examined every six months and on any legislative change.