- First, you must have a proof of your SHAPE membership (military orders or SHAPE ID card),
- Then go to the International Housing Office to register yourself on the Housing computer.
- Once you have registred, you may take up to five different housing options. These options are the houses you are interested in linving in during your tour at SHAPE. Each option is in a lins-up to receive the house. These options are valid for 7 days.
Options expire at 0930 on the seventh day after entry. (Example: you take an option at 15:00 on a Tuesday. At 09:30 the next Tuesday, your option expires. The computer system automatically removes your name from the house and everyone below you moves up one place. If the seventh day is a holiday or a week-end, the options still expires. Keep this in mind!)
- Once you take an option on a house, five events are possible:
1. The house is rented by someone outside IHO. Indeed, landlords can advertise their house to the local Belgian community.
2. The person who is #1 option decides to rent the house. Once he/she executes his/her option, all the other options on the house are automatically deleted and the house is no longer available (taken off the board and computer).
3. If you decide you do not want the house, please delete your option to allow other customers to apply for it or to move up one place.
4. You made no decision and seven days have passed. Your option expired automatically.
5. You decide to rent the house if you become #1:
(a) As long as you are #1 you can ask IHO to assign the house to you and rent it.
(b) You are not #1, but everyone ahead of you on the list has the same expiration date as you. In this case, you will become #1 for an instant in time at 09:30 on expiration day. So be present at IHO before 09:30 and tell the Housing Assistant you want the house. At 09:30, he/she will assign the house to the person highest on the option list (hopefully it will be you).
Putting an option on a house.
A. Look at the houses listed on the board. In the upper left corner of each square is a pin with a number on it. This is the number the computer uses to track the houses. Log onto the computer and scroll down to this number. Confirm the address, then click on the house number (highlight in blue), then click on option.
B. Print the house information by clicking on the button "print detail” and then contact the current tenant to set up an appointment to see the house. If there is no current tenant, and the landlord does not speak English, a Housing Assistant can help you set up the visit.
C. During your visit of the house, you and the prospective landlord may discuss changes or additions to the house. Common options are for the landlord to arrange the annual furnace maintenance, annual chimney maintenance, your insurance policy on the house, and the maintenance of the garden (the cost for the garden is spread over 12 months, but work is usually done only during the growing months April thru October). These costs are added to the basic rent. Each nation has its own policy about what items will be paid for by housing allowances. Consult with your national support element to determine what you can and cannot do. Do not give any money during a visit and do not sign anything that would commit you! Also do not discuss amounts of money. Let the International Housing Office determine fair market value for an improvement.
D. Once you decide to rent a house and you are #1 on the list, ask one of the Housing Assistants to assign the house to you. Your other options will be automatically deleted.
E. If you find a house to rent that is not on the IHO board, ask to get that house inspected by one of the IHO inspectors. We ensure it meets SHAPE's health, safety and security standards, and also that the landlord is willing to accept the SHAPE lease. The SHAPE lease contains special clauses that protect the interest of SHAPE Members. Belgian leases do not. If the house meets the IHO rules, you can rent it through the IHO. If the house does not meet IHO standards, we will tell you what the problems are and what the possible consequences could be. Then you may decide to rent it directly from the landlord but IHO will not be involved and will not support you.
-+F. If the school bus is important to where you live, contact the School Bus Manager at Shape extension 4013 to learn if the houses you want are on the school bus route.
Deleting an option.
Be very careful when deleting an option. We cannot override the computer if you make a mistake and delete the wrong house. Every year some people accidentally delete the house they really want to rent!
There is one exception. If you were #1 option and can prove it (show us the printout where you are listed as the number one), and you notify the front desk IMMEDIATELY of your error, and you are willing to rent the house, we will use the "take the option” procedure.