Assignments in Belgium change shape more often than they end on schedule. An engineer is recalled and a colleague takes over, a project overruns by six weeks, a partner decides to come after all, or the contract with the end client is cut short. Employee rotation in corporate housing is the moment when a well-chosen contract saves days of work and a poorly chosen one forces a new search. This guide explains how each of these changes works with Globexs, and what HR teams should plan for before the first employee moves in.
With Globexs, a change of occupant does not end the contract: the same contract continues, and an addendum records the new tenant.
This matters more than it sounds. Without it, every rotation means a new contract, a new approval cycle, new onboarding in your procurement system, and the risk that the apartment is re-let to someone else in the gap. With it, the apartment stays assigned to the project, and only the name of the person living in it changes.
For a company, that makes the apartment behave like project equipment: it stays in place for as long as the assignment needs it, and people move through it.
A replacement is an addendum to the existing contract, and the rest of the arrangement stays as it was.
Tell us who is leaving and when. The earlier we know the date, the easier the handover.
Send the details of the incoming employee. The addendum names them as the new tenant.
Sign the addendum. The property, the contract and the invoice continue unchanged.
Agree the key handover with us in advance. The house rules on keys apply to the incoming employee from the first day.
Check whether anything else changes. A replacement who drives, brings a partner or will stay past three months may need a different setup; see the sections below.
A gap of a few days between two employees does not require ending the contract. An overlap does require a second bed, so if the outgoing and incoming employees need a week together on site, plan a second apartment for that week.
An extension takes one email, and this applies to corporate clients as well as individuals.
Send it as soon as the new end date is known, not in the final week. The apartment may already be promised to someone else from a later date, and the earlier we hear, the more likely the same apartment stays available. This is especially true if the extension runs into September, the tightest month of the year in Belgium, when projects restart after the summer and many new teams arrive at once.
Our contracts run from one to eleven months. If an extension would take the total stay past that, raise it with us early so there is time to agree the next step.
If a partner or family members will join the employee during the stay, tell us in advance: the price depends on the number of occupants, because energy is included in the rent.
A few other things to check at the same time:
Size. A studio that works for one engineer may not work for a couple for four months. Moving to a larger apartment is easier to arrange with notice.
Pets. Animals are possible only with the owner's consent, decided case by case, and must be mentioned before booking.
Registration. If the family will stay longer than three months, they will need to register with the commune. Our apartments can be used as a registered address when the owner agrees; send a written request to your rental agent and we obtain the owner's decision. Details: registering with the commune in Belgium.
Rent out your apartment with Globexs
A family arrival that we hear about in advance is a change to the contract. One we discover later is a problem for everyone.
Notice terms are set in each contract, and a flexible cancellation option is available.
We do not publish a standard figure here, because the terms depend on the contract. What we recommend is simple: read the notice clause before the employee moves in, ask about the flexible cancellation option if the end date is uncertain, and tell us as soon as an early end becomes likely rather than when it is confirmed. For uncertain projects, a replacement can also be an alternative to ending: if another employee will take over the work, the apartment can stay under the same contract.
Most changes during an assignment touch one part of the arrangement and leave the rest untouched.
Change | What you do | What stays the same |
|---|---|---|
Employee replaced | Sign an addendum naming the new tenant | Property, contract, invoice |
Project overruns | Send one email requesting an extension | Property, contract terms |
Partner or family joins | Tell us in advance | Contract; price adjusted to the number of occupants |
Pet arrives | Ask before it arrives; the owner decides | Contract, if the owner agrees |
Stay passes three months | Send a written request about registration | Rent, contract and deposit |
Assignment ends early | Follow the notice terms in your contract | The terms agreed when you signed |
Invoicing continues on the same rhythm throughout: one all-in invoice, issued on the 15th and payable by the 1st of the following month.
This is an illustrative example, not a client case.
A company places a process engineer in Antwerp for what is planned as a six-month assignment. In month three, the engineer is recalled to head office and a colleague takes over the same role. An addendum names the colleague as the new tenant; the apartment and the invoice continue without a break. In month five, the colleague's partner decides to join for the summer, and the company tells us in advance so the price can reflect two occupants. In month six, the project is extended by three months with one email.
One apartment, one contract, nine months, two employees, and no new search.
Rotation is easiest when it is planned at the start, even if it never happens.
Put the company on the contract if the role, rather than the person, is the reason for the stay.
Name one contact on your side who can confirm replacements and extensions quickly.
Estimate the likely end date range, not only the planned end date, and discuss it with us before signing.
Read the notice terms and ask about the flexible cancellation option.
Ask each employee about family and pets before booking, not after arrival.
Decide on registration for anyone staying past three months, so the owner's answer is known in advance.
For how the contract itself works: how renting with Globexs works.
Globexs has housed employees and project teams since 2002, in Belgium and Spain. In Belgium we work with teams of 1 to 50 people on contracts from one to eleven months, in Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. Replacements are handled by addendum within the same contract, extensions by one email, and the rent is all-in with energy included.
Related guides: housing a project team in Belgium · serviced apartments in Belgium · corporate housing across Belgium · Brussels · Antwerp · Ghent
Yes. The same contract continues, and an addendum records the change of tenant. The property and the invoice stay the same.
Send one email with the new end date. Do it as soon as the date is known, so the same apartment is more likely to remain available.
Tell us in advance. The price depends on the number of occupants, because energy is included in the rent, and a larger apartment may be needed.
Only with the owner's consent, decided case by case. Mention it before booking.
Notice terms are set in each contract, and a flexible cancellation option is available. Read the notice clause before signing and tell us as soon as an early end becomes likely.
No. The contract continues, and the same all-in invoice keeps arriving on the 15th, payable by the 1st of the following month.
Registration is possible when the owner agrees. Send a written request to your rental agent, and we will ask the owner and tell you the decision.
Globexs has worked with companies placing staff in Belgium since 2002. It was founded in Antwerp by Belgian entrepreneur Lodewijk Cuypers; the average Globexs stay in Belgium today is 5.3 months.
