Your rental agreement, like many, may contain a clause stating that smoking is not allowed in your accommodation. Is it allowed to mention this clause in the rental contract and, above all, must you, as a smoker, refrain from smoking in your accommodation? We can help you.
From a legal point of view, it would be an invasion of privacy to forbid the tenant to smoke in his flat.
You can therefore ignore this clause of your rental agreement and smoke on your balcony or in your flat. However, in the common areas or stairwell, smoking is obviously prohibited.
From a landlord’s point of view, it is obviously better to rent to a non-smoker. This is why it is often mentioned in the advertisement or the contract that the tenant must be a non-smoker or that smoking is prohibited. As mentioned above, this clause is not admissible, but the landlord can demand financial compensation at the time of the handover if the smoke has damaged the paintwork or ask the tenant to repaint the walls.
Limit smoking for the neighbourhood
There is nothing more annoying for a non-smoker than the next-door neighbour who constantly smokes on his balcony. From the point of view of the other tenants, they can ask to limit smoking time on the balcony or to respect certain hours for smoking on the balcony. If you cannot agree and the smoking neighbours are “overdoing it”, then the tenant can report this to the real estate agency or the landlord.
