In Belgium, buying rules depend on the Region. For a sole and own home costing €300,000, registration duties come to €12,500 in Brussels, €9,000 in Wallonia and €6,000 in Flanders. Each of the 67 guides below answers one question, with its official sources and their date.
Buying
Buying a home in Brussels and Belgium: the steps
Buying a home in Brussels follows one path: budget, financing, search, offer or option, sales agreement (compromis), searches and certificates, then the notarial deed. The legal weight comes early: an accepted offer can already bind you, and a sales agreement signed without conditions is final.
Registration duties in Brussels: rates and the abatement
Registration duties (the Belgian sales duty) are the largest purchase cost. In the Brussels-Capital Region the standard rate is 12.5%.
Notary fees in Belgium: what you pay and why
To buy a home in Belgium the sale must be made by a notarial deed, and the notary's fees follow a legal tariff that is the same for all notaries (a royal decree), so they cannot be negotiated.
Offer and sale agreement (compromis) in Belgium
In Belgium you are committed earlier than in many countries. According to notaire.be, an offer binds its author and, if the seller accepts, the sale is concluded.
Checking an estate agent's IPI licence in Belgium
In Belgium, only a professional licensed by the Institut professionnel des agents immobiliers (IPI) may use the title of estate agent. The licence is personal, so check the individual who handles your file, not just the agency.
Land surveyor: boundaries, measurement and protected title
"Surveyor" (géomètre-expert / landmeter-expert) is a protected title in Belgium. Only a natural person entered on the roll of the Order of Surveyors (Ordre des géomètres-experts), with the mention "active", may use it.
Buying building land in Belgium: the checks
A "building plot" does not give you the right to build whatever you want. Even on buildable land, most works require prior planning permission (permis d'urbanisme).
Planning information and planning breaches when selling
Before the sale, the commune states what the property is from a planning point of view: zone, permits issued, constraints. This planning information (renseignements urbanistiques) is among the documents the seller must provide.
Soil certificate in Brussels and Wallonia
When a property is sold in the Brussels Region, the seller must give the buyer a soil certificate (attestation du sol / bodemattest) issued by Bruxelles Environnement (the Brussels environment agency).
Asbestos certificate when selling a home in Flanders
Since 23 November 2022, anyone selling a building from before 2001 in Flanders must have a valid asbestos certificate (asbestattest). The seller must communicate its content to the buyer at the latest when the sale agreement (compromis) is signed.
Buying together in Belgium: married, cohabiting, joint ownership
Buying as a couple is not handled the same way depending on whether you are married, legal cohabitants (cohabitants légaux / wettelijk samenwonenden) or de facto cohabitants (cohabitants de fait / feitelijk samenwonenden).
Flood zones in Belgium: what to know before buying
A property can be flood-prone without ever having been flooded. In Wallonia, the reference flood hazard map (carte de l'aléa d'inondation) was adopted on 4 March 2021 and published in the Belgian Official Gazette (Moniteur) on 24 March 2021.
Buying at an online public auction in Belgium (Biddit)
Biddit is the notaries' online sales platform. A public sale there is an auction: bids accumulate over 8 days and the highest wins, unless the seller refuses it because it does not reach their minimum. There is no sale agreement (compromis de vente / verkoopovereenkomst).
Valuing a property: methods and median prices (Statbel)
There is no single price for a property: there is a range. The most solid starting point is the median of actual sales published by Statbel (the Belgian statistics office).
Buying a rented property in Belgium: lease, tenant, deposit
When you buy a rented property, the tenant does not leave with the former owner. If the lease has a certain date (date certaine) before the sale, you take over the landlord's rights and obligations from the signing of the notarial deed (acte authentique).
Buying a house to renovate in Belgium: checkpoints
A house to renovate costs less to buy, but the asking price is only the first line of the budget.
Easements and party walls: the Belgian Civil Code
An easement (servitude / erfdienstbaarheid) is a burden on one plot of land (the servient property) for the benefit of another (the dominant property). It follows the property, not the person: when you buy, you take it over.
Buying off-plan in Belgium: what the Breyne Act guarantees
When you buy a house or a flat that does not exist yet, you pay before you can live in it. The Breyne Act (loi Breyne / wet Breyne) of 9 July 1971 protects you.
Buying a flat in co-ownership: syndic, charges and documents
Buying a flat means buying a private unit and a share of the common parts. You join an association of co-owners (co-ownership, copropriété / mede-eigendom), with its rules, its accounts and any debts it may have.
Selling or buying a property as a life annuity (viager)
A life annuity sale (viager / lijfrente) is a sale in which the buyer pays the seller partly at signature (the lump sum, bouquet), then through an annuity (rente) paid until the seller's death.
Financing
Getting a mortgage in Belgium as an expat
Belgian lenders look at the same three things for everyone: whether your income covers the repayments, the value of the home, and how much of the price you fund yourself.
Mortgage broker in Belgium: role, FSMA and cost
In Belgium, anyone who presents mortgage loans to consumers, on a self-employed basis and for remuneration, must be registered with the FSMA as a credit intermediary.
Fixed or variable mortgage rate in Belgium
With a fixed rate your rate is set when you sign and applies for the whole loan.
Deposit and loan-to-value: what Belgian banks expect
The loan-to-value ratio (LTV, "quotité" in French) is the mortgage divided by the value of the property. The National Bank of Belgium (NBB) does not set a legal rule for banks but publishes "prudential expectations" with a 90% LTV reference for an owner-occupied home.
Social mortgage loans: Wallonia and Brussels
Wallonia and Brussels each have a public body for social mortgage loans.
Bridging loan in Belgium: buying before you have sold
A bridging loan (crédit-pont / overbruggingskrediet) finances your new home while the old one has not yet been sold. According to notaire.be, it is short-term: 12 months at most.
Refinancing a mortgage in Belgium: reinvestment fee and costs
Refinancing means repaying your mortgage (mortgage loan; crédit hypothécaire / woonlening) early and taking out a new one, in principle at a lower rate.
Mortgage or mortgage mandate: the differences
A mortgage (hypothèque / hypotheek) is a right over a building that guarantees the bank payment of a debt.
Mortgage life insurance in Belgium: compulsory or not?
Mortgage life insurance (assurance solde restant dû / schuldsaldoverzekering) is not required by law. According to Wikifin, the FSMA's financial education website, most lenders nevertheless require it for large amounts, such as a mortgage loan.
Chèque habitat, housing bonus: tax relief on a home loan
A mortgage loan (crédit hypothécaire / woonlening) for your sole and own home (habitation propre et unique / enige eigen woning) no longer gives entitlement to a tax reduction if you took it out recently.
Mijn VerbouwLening: Flemish renovation loan, rates and terms
Mijn VerbouwLening (the Flemish renovation loan) is a low-interest loan from the Flemish Government for sustainable renovation works. You borrow from €4,000 to €60,000, repayable over a maximum of 25 years.
Selling
Selling your home in Belgium: steps and documents
Selling a home happens in four stages: prepare the documents, put the property on the market, sign the sale agreement (compromis de vente / verkoopovereenkomst), then sign the notarial deed (acte authentique / authentieke akte) at the notary's.
Selling through an estate agent: the brokerage contract
Entrusting the sale of your property to an estate agency (agence immobilière / vastgoedmakelaar) requires a written contract, the brokerage (or intermediation) contract (contrat de courtage / bemiddelingsovereenkomst). A Royal Decree of 28 September 2023 sets the mandatory clauses when the client is a consumer.
Capital gains on property in Belgium: when are they taxed?
In Belgium, selling a property at a profit is not always taxed. For a built property resold less than 5 years after its purchase, the capital gain (plus-value / meerwaarde) may be taxed at 16.5%.
Electrical inspection when selling a house in Belgium
Book 1 of the RGIE (the general regulations on electrical installations, règlement général sur les installations électriques / AREI) provides for an electrical inspection (contrôle de l'installation électrique / elektrische keuring) when an old installation in a dwelling unit is sold.
Post-intervention file (DIU) when selling in Belgium
The post-intervention file (dossier d'intervention ultérieure, DIU / postinterventiedossier) is a file that describes the works carried out in a building and contains the information relevant to safety and health for future works.
Heating oil tank: obligations when selling
According to notaire.be, there is no explicit obligation concerning the heating oil tank (citerne à mazout) at the time of sale, but the seller must inform the buyer about the heating system: capacity, location and year of installation.
Selling a jointly owned or inherited property in Belgium
A property is held in joint ownership (indivision / onverdeeldheid) when several people own it together, without each of them owning a specific part: this is the case after a purchase by several people or an estate with several heirs.
Woningpas: the digital passport of your home in Flanders
The Woningpas (home passport) is a free digital passport of your home in Flanders. In one place you find all the digitally available information the Flemish Government holds about your property: energy, completed renovations, soil, water and sewerage, flood risk, housing quality and permits.
Renting
Renting a home in Brussels: the main-residence lease
In Brussels, housing leases are governed by the Brussels Housing Code, not by federal law.
Renting a home in Flanders: the Flemish Residential Tenancy Decree
If you rent a home in Flanders as your main residence under a lease signed on or after 1 January 2019, the Flemish Residential Tenancy Decree (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet) applies.
Rental deposit in Brussels: amount, forms and return
In Brussels, a landlord may ask for a rental deposit (the "garantie locative"), but the Housing Code does not impose one: it exists only if the lease provides for it.
Inventory of fixtures in Brussels: entry and exit
In Brussels, the tenant and the landlord must draw up a detailed, joint entry inventory of fixtures (the "état des lieux"), either before the tenant moves in or during the first month of occupancy.
Registering a lease in Brussels: deadline and platforms
Every housing lease in Brussels must be registered, free of charge, within two months of signing. The duty rests on the landlord, but the tenant may do it too.
Rent indexation in Brussels: formula and EPB rules
In Brussels, a landlord can index the rent once a year, at the earliest on the anniversary of the start of the lease, but only if the lease is registered and the tenant has received a valid EPB energy certificate.
Ending a lease in Brussels: notice and indemnities
In Brussels, a tenant on a nine-year main-residence lease can leave at any time with three months' notice, paying an indemnity of three, two or one month's rent only if leaving in the first, second or third year.
House-sharing in Belgium: the pact and the lease
House-sharing (colocation) means a single lease signed by all the co-tenants and the landlord, plus a house-sharing pact (pacte de colocation) signed between the co-tenants. In Wallonia, there is no house-sharing lease without a pact, signed no later than the day of the lease.
Works and repairs: landlord or tenant?
In a rented home, the principle is the same in both Regions: the tenant pays for tenant repairs (réparations locatives) and minor upkeep, and the landlord pays for everything else, including what is due to wear and tear (vétusté) or force majeure.
Conformity certificate for a rental home in Flanders
The conformity certificate (conformiteitsattest) is an official statement by the municipality that a home is not unfit or uninhabitable and has enough smoke detectors. It also states the maximum number of permitted occupants.
Renovating
Renovation grants in Wallonia and Brussels
In Wallonia, the temporary scheme of Habitation grants (primes Habitation) had to be applied for by 30 September 2026 at the latest. According to the Walloon Government, it is replaced by a new loan scheme (Rénopack and Rénoprêt) adopted for 1 October 2026.
6% VAT in Belgium: renovation or demolition and rebuilding
The standard rate of VAT (TVA / btw) on works is 21%. It can fall to 6% in two cases.
Housing audit in Wallonia: what it is for
The housing audit (audit logement) is a detailed analysis of an existing home in Wallonia. It is voluntary: only the EPB certificate (certificat PEB) is compulsory to sell or let.
Brussels EPB renovation obligation: the timetable
In Brussels, the Region wants to put an end to the most energy-hungry homes.
Works: when do you need planning permission?
In Belgium, planning is a regional competence. In Wallonia, the Territorial Development Code (Code du Développement territorial, CoDT) lists the works that require planning permission (permis d'urbanisme).
Solar panels in Belgium: rules and support in 2026
The rules for residential solar power are regional.
Smoke detectors: the obligation for homes in Belgium
Smoke detectors (détecteurs de fumée) are compulsory in homes in Wallonia and Brussels, whether owner-occupied or rented. In Wallonia, the rule has existed since 2004: one detector per living level in a house, two if the level exceeds 80 m².
Owning
The EPB energy certificate in Brussels: rent and sale
In Brussels, an EPB certificate (called PEB in French, for "performance énergétique des bâtiments") is required to sell or rent an individual dwelling.
Property tax in Brussels: précompte immobilier explained
The précompte immobilier (property tax, "PRI") is an annual tax on every built or unbuilt property in Brussels, calculated on its indexed cadastral income.
Cadastral income in Belgium: what it is and how to contest it
Cadastral income (revenu cadastral / kadastraal inkomen) is a notional value set by FPS Finance for each property (building or land).
Who owns a property in Belgium? The cadastral extract
In Belgium, the owner of a property is recorded in the property database of FPS Finance, which you access through a cadastral extract (extrait cadastral / kadastraal uittreksel) on MyMinfin: €5 for the owner details of one plot, €20 on a paper form.
Rental income in Belgium: how is it taxed?
In Belgium, the rent you receive is not always taxed as such. If you let to a private individual who lives there, you are taxed on the indexed cadastral income, increased by 40%, whatever the actual rent.
Second-home tax in Wallonia
In Wallonia, the tax on second homes (taxe sur les secondes résidences) is a municipal tax: each commune decides whether to levy it and at what amount.
Vacant property in Belgium: taxes and fines
Leaving a home empty (logement inoccupé) can be expensive in Belgium. In Wallonia, a commune can levy a tax on unoccupied buildings; if it has none, an administrative fine of €500 to €12,500 per home and per 12-month period can be imposed.
Buying property through a company in Belgium: what changes
When a company buys a property in Belgium, the favourable regimes reserved for the sole and own home (habitation propre et unique / enige eigen woning) do not apply.
Gifting a property in Belgium: gift tax by Region
Giving away a building during your lifetime incurs gift tax (droits de donation / schenkbelasting). It is paid by the recipient.
Inheritance tax on property in Belgium
When you inherit a house or a flat, you pay inheritance tax (droits de succession / erfbelasting) to the competent Region. It is calculated on your net share, in brackets.
The family home: the inheritance tax exemption
When one of the two partners dies, the family home can pass to the other without inheritance tax (droits de succession). In Wallonia as in Brussels, the surviving spouse or legal cohabitant is exempt on their net share in the family home (habitation familiale).