Chèque habitat, housing bonus: tax relief on a home loan

Why three different regimes

Each Region has set its own rules and its own end dates. FPS Finance (SPF Finances / FOD Financiën) applies the calculation in your tax return: be.brussels presents it as the manager of this tax reduction. What counts, therefore, is the date on which your loan was concluded and your Region.

Wallonia: the chèque habitat

What it is

According to Wallonia, the chèque habitat is a tax reduction convertible into a tax credit. It is granted from the tax year following the year in which the loan was concluded. It lasts 20 years at most. The relief is full the first 10 times, then reduced by 50% for the last 10 years.

Who qualifies, by date

The SPW Logement (Walloon housing administration) FAQ answers the question “Can I still benefit from the chèque habitat for a home acquired in 2025 or later?” in the negative: the scheme is abolished for new acquisitions. For a home acquired or built in 2025 or later, the Region has instead introduced a reduced 3% rate of registration duties (droits d’enregistrement) for the sole and own home. See our guide on registration duties.

Current beneficiaries lose nothing. According to the same FAQ, they keep the relief for the remaining years of the loan. If refinancing after 1 January 2025, the regime applicable to a loan concluded before that date is retained. However, refinancing does not extend the number of years for which the relief is granted.

The conditions (loans concerned)

Wallonia lists cumulative conditions:

• acquiring (with or without renovation) or building a home, and occupying it;
• taking out a loan secured by a mortgage registration, for at least 10 years;
• having a sole home: not owning another home, with exceptions (inheritance, gift, letting through a social rental agency, for example);
• having total taxable income, taken individually, below €81,000, indexed to €105,503 for tax year 2026.

Whether the home is your sole home is assessed on 31 December of the year in which the loan was concluded. A loan for works only qualifies if it is “concomitant” with the purchase.

The amounts for tax year 2026

The Walloon page, updated on 23 July 2026, gives these figures:

The relief is individual. It is also limited to the sum of the year’s repayments (interest and capital) and the premium of the individual life insurance linked to the loan. These amounts are indexed from one tax year to the next. Reread the Walloon page for the tax year that concerns you.

Brussels: the housing bonus has gone for recent loans

According to be.brussels, the bonus-logement (housing bonus) was abolished on 1 January 2017. The relief remains valid for people who took out, before that date, a mortgage loan for their sole and own home (acquisition, construction or renovation).

For a loan concluded from 2017, there is therefore no longer any regional reduction in Brussels. The Region replaced it with an increased abatement on registration duties when buying a sole and own home. This abatement applies at the purchase, at the notary’s, and not in your tax return. See registration duties.

The Brussels page gives neither the amount of the old bonus nor the procedure. For a loan from before 2017, contact FPS Finance, which the page names as the manager of this reduction.

Flanders: the woonbonus ended in 2020

The official Flemish page states that there is no longer any Flemish tax reduction for mortgage loans concluded after 31 December 2019. Here are the points from the same page:

• the date of the notarial loan deed signed at the notary’s determines the date of the loan, not the date of the sale agreement (compromis);
• since 1 January 2020, extending the term of the loan no longer gives entitlement to the relief;
• in the case of a simple refinancing, the date of the original loan applies in principle, but the additional amount is treated as a new loan.

The page gives no amount for the current tax year. For a loan from before 2020, check your situation with the Flemish administration or FPS Finance. Flemish registration duties are not covered here.

How to claim it

In Wallonia, a borrower who wants to benefit from the chèque habitat must fill in, in their tax return, the codes relating to their mortgage loan. FPS Finance then does the calculation according to your taxable income.

The certificates come from the bodies concerned:

1. A single basic certificate from the lender, showing that the contract can be taken into account.
2. An annual payment certificate from the lender, with the amount paid during the year.
3. For the life insurance linked to the loan, the same two certificates from the insurer.

Ask your lender for these documents before filling in the return. For the codes, read the tax return brochure for the year or call FPS Finance.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Confusing the date of the sale agreement with the date of the loan. It is the date of the loan that counts.
• Believing that refinancing restarts the relief. Flanders and Wallonia say the opposite: refinancing keeps the original date and term, and in Flanders any additional amount borrowed counts as a new loan.
• Forgetting the sole-home condition in Wallonia. It is assessed on 31 December of the year in which the loan was concluded.

For your budget

For a new loan, base your budget on the actual monthly payment, without any tax reduction. To assess what you can borrow, see your borrowing capacity.

Which professionals to consult

• Your lender or your broker, to obtain the loan certificates.
• FPS Finance (Contact Centre), for the calculation of the reduction in the tax return. The number given by be.brussels is +32 2 572 57 57, from 9 am to 5 pm.
• A notary, for the date of the deed and the registration duties.