Cadastral income, EPC, registration duties, property tax, municipal surcharges: the 75 terms you will meet in your documents, defined on one page and linked to each other.
A reduction of the base on which registration duties are calculated, granted under conditions to a buyer of a home they will live in themselves. Its amount and conditions are set by each Region and change regularly.
See also: Registration duties
Calculer les frais d'acte →The table the bank provides setting out, month by month, the interest, the capital and the outstanding balance. It is the document to consult before an early repayment or a resale.
See also: Monthly repayment, Outstanding balance
The total cost of credit expressed as an annual percentage: interest, arrangement fees, valuation costs and compulsory premiums included. It is the only figure that lets you compare two offers honestly — the headline rate alone does not.
See also: Fixed rate, Variable rate
Simuler un prêt →Ownership of a property without the right to use it or receive its income, which belong to the usufructuary. When the usufruct ends, full ownership is restored without further transfer tax.
See also: Usufruct
The Belgian State's official journal. Every statutory company publication (incorporation, change of director, transfer of registered office, dissolution, bankruptcy) appears there and stays consultable.
Vérifier une entreprise →The amount a bank will agree to lend you given your income, your existing loan repayments and the term you have in mind. Nothing official about it: each bank applies its own acceptance policy, and two lenders can give very different answers on the same file.
See also: Debt-to-income ratio, Loan-to-value ratio
Calculer ma capacité d'emprunt →The law protecting buyers of a home to be built or under construction: compulsory contract clauses, payments staged against progress, completion guarantee, acceptance in two stages. It binds the developer, who cannot contract out of it.
See also: Provisional and final acceptance
A temporary loan that advances the proceeds of a property you have not yet sold, so you can finance the next purchase. You generally pay interest only, the capital being repaid in one go on the sale.
The right to own buildings on someone else's land, which separates ownership of the structure from ownership of the ground. Widely used in arrangements where the land stays with the seller or with a company.
See also: Long lease
A document issued by the General Administration of Patrimonial Documentation giving the parcel's identification, area, nature and cadastral income. It does not prove ownership: it is a tax and technical document.
See also: Cadastral income, Cadastral register
A notional net annual rental value assigned to every Belgian property by the General Administration of Patrimonial Documentation. It matches neither the real rent nor the sale value: it is the base for the property tax (précompte immobilier) and for part of personal income tax.
See also: Indexed cadastral income, Property tax
Estimer mon précompte →The register listing, municipality by municipality, the parcels and the people recorded as holding rights over them. It is the source of the data on the cadastral extract.
See also: Cadastral extract
The National Bank service where companies file their annual accounts, consultable free of charge. No filing, or consistently late filings, is a signal in itself.
See also: Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, Company number
A Walloon tax benefit tied to a mortgage on your own home, calculated on income and the number of dependent children. Eligibility depends on the date of the deed: the same household does not have the same rights depending on the year of purchase.
The regime of a building divided into units belonging to several owners, with common parts managed collectively. Buying a flat means buying a private unit and an undivided share of the common parts, with the decisions and debts that come with them.
See also: Deed of division, Property manager, Service charges
The unique ten-digit identifier given to every Belgian company or entity, in the form 0123.456.789. It must appear on quotes, invoices and the website, and it is the key to every public check.
See also: Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, Belgian Official Gazette
Vérifier une entreprise →The official public register of every Belgian company and establishment unit: company number, name, legal form, NACE activities, registered office and status (active, in liquidation, struck off).
Vérifier une entreprise →The share of your net monthly income absorbed by loan repayments. Belgian banks usually work around one third of income, but no law sets that threshold: it is a practice, tempered by looking at what is left to live on.
See also: Residual income, Borrowing capacity
The notarial deed that creates the co-ownership: it describes the building, defines the units, sets each unit's share of the common parts and contains the co-ownership rules. This is the document to read before buying a flat.
See also: Co-ownership, Shares in the common parts
Sums the notary advances on your behalf: mortgage searches, cadastral extracts, town-planning information, registration costs. They are neither the notary's pay nor a tax, and appear separately on the statement.
See also: Notary fees
A charge on a property for the benefit of another property or a third party: right of way, pipes, light and view, a ban on building. It runs with the property on sale and must appear in the deed.
A check by an accredited body that a home's electrical installation complies. The report must be handed over at the sale; a negative report does not prevent selling, but gives the buyer a deadline to put the installation in order.
A certificate required whenever a home is sold or let, stating its theoretical consumption in kWh/m² per year and a letter grade (A or better down to G). It is valid for ten years.
Registres PEB →A standardised document, drawn up by an accredited assessor, rating a home's energy performance and valid for ten years. It is compulsory before any sale or letting in all three Regions, and its figures must appear in the advertisement.
See also: Energy performance certificate, EPC label
The letter given to a home, from A (or A+, A++) down to G, according to its primary energy consumption per square metre. The thresholds differ from one Region to another: the same building may not carry the same letter in Wallonia and in Flanders.
See also: Energy performance certificate, Renovation obligation
A rate that does not move for the whole term of the loan: the monthly repayment is known from the first month to the last. It is the dominant formula in Belgium.
See also: Variable rate, Annual percentage rate of charge
A mapped area where the risk of flooding is known and graded. It affects whether the property can be insured, sometimes the planning permission, and must be mentioned in the deed. The maps are public and can be checked address by address.
See also: Town-planning information
A fuel tank subject to periodic inspection and leak-tightness rules specific to each Region, with thresholds tied to its capacity. A non-compliant tank, or one abandoned without being neutralised, is a liability the buyer takes on.
The cadastral income multiplied by the indexation coefficient for the current tax year. It is this indexed amount, not the raw figure, that the property tax is calculated on.
See also: Cadastral income
A detailed description of the home agreed by both parties on entry and compared on departure. Without an entry inventory the tenant is presumed to have received the property in the state they return it in: the landlord is the one who loses out.
See also: Main residence lease
The Dutch term for cadastral income. It appears on every Flemish document and on bilingual cadastral extracts.
See also: Cadastral income
A sale where the price is paid, in whole or in part, as an annuity until the seller dies, often with an initial lump sum. It is called occupied when the seller keeps the use of the property, and vacant when they move out.
See also: Usufruct, Bare ownership
The ratio between the amount borrowed and the value of the property. An 80 % LTV means 20 % of the price comes from your own funds. The lower the LTV, the better the rate you can generally obtain.
Simuler un prêt →A long-term right in rem giving almost complete enjoyment of someone else's property in return for a periodic payment, the canon. The right can be sold and mortgaged, but ends at its term.
See also: Building right, Usufruct
The lease for a home where the tenant establishes their main residence, governed by regional tenancy law. Its term, the ways it can be ended and the compensation due are largely mandatory: the contract cannot freely depart from them.
See also: Rental deposit, Rent indexation, Inventory of fixtures
The amount debited each month, made up of interest and capital repaid. Early in the loan interest dominates by far; its share falls as the capital is paid down.
See also: Amortisation schedule
Simuler un prêt →The security the bank takes over the financed property: on default it can have the property sold and be paid first out of the price. It is created by notarial deed and registered with the Legal Security office.
See also: Mortgage mandate, Release of mortgage
A power of attorney allowing the bank to register a mortgage later rather than immediately. Cheaper at signature than a full registration, it only gives the bank a potential security — which is why it is often combined with a partial registration.
See also: Mortgage
Multipliers voted each year by the municipality and the province, applied to the basic property tax. For an identical cadastral income, they are why the same property can cost twice as much in one municipality as in the next.
See also: Property tax
The notarial deed that formally transfers ownership and allows it to be recorded. It must be signed within a contractual deadline, in practice about four months after the preliminary agreement — a period tied to paying the registration duties.
See also: Preliminary sale agreement, Registration duties
An everyday term covering three distinct things: registration duties (or VAT on a new build), administrative costs and disbursements, and the notary's own fee — which is set by Royal Decree and therefore identical at every practice.
See also: Registration duties
Calculer mes frais de notaire →A written proposal to the seller, usually with a validity period. If it is accepted as it stands the sale is in principle formed — which is why any suspensive conditions you want must already be written into it.
See also: Preliminary sale agreement, Suspensive condition
The Dutch name for the property tax, collected in the Flemish Region by the Vlaamse Belastingdienst.
See also: Property tax
The capital you still have to repay at a given moment. It sets the amount to settle on resale and is the basis for outstanding balance insurance.
See also: Outstanding balance insurance, Amortisation schedule
Life cover attached to the mortgage that repays all or part of the remaining capital if a borrower dies. It is not a legal requirement, but banks almost always insist on it.
The money you put into the deal yourself. In Belgium it first covers the deed costs, which banks rarely finance, and it lowers the loan-to-value — and so, usually, the rate you are offered.
See also: Loan-to-value ratio, Notary fees
The authorisation needed to build, convert, change the use of a property or alter its external appearance. It is granted by the municipality, under distinct regional rules. Works carried out without permission remain an offence that passes to the buyer.
See also: Regional land-use plan, Town-planning information
A file gathering the information needed for safety during future works: plans, materials, interventions carried out. It must be handed to the buyer for any property that has had works done since May 2001.
A right granted to a public authority or a designated person to buy a property in priority, on the terms negotiated with a third party. It does not set the price: it allows them to step into the buyer's place.
See also: Town-planning information
The agreement signed between seller and buyer, often well before the notarial deed. Under Belgian law the sale is made as soon as the parties agree on the property and the price: this is not a preparatory document but the decisive commitment.
See also: Suspensive condition, Notarial deed of sale, Offer to purchase
The person or company responsible for managing the co-ownership: carrying out decisions, accounts, maintenance, convening the general meeting. Ask for their accounts and the minutes of the last three meetings before you buy.
See also: Co-ownership, Service charges
An annual regional tax calculated on the indexed cadastral income. It combines a basic rate (the regional share) and the provincial and municipal surcharges, which make up most of the bill.
See also: Municipal and provincial surcharges, Tax assessment notice
Estimer mon précompte →The two stages of accepting building work. Provisional acceptance records that the works are finished and starts the guarantee periods; final acceptance, in principle a year later, starts the ten-year liability running.
See also: Ten-year liability insurance, Breyne Act
The VAT regime applying to certain works on homes above a given age, and to demolition-and-rebuild operations. The conditions and exclusions have changed several times in recent years: check them case by case with the FPS Finance.
The town-planning document that assigns a designated use to each parcel (residential, agricultural, forest, economic activity…). That designation governs what may be built or renovated there.
A regional tax due on the purchase of an existing property, calculated on the sale price (or the market value if that is higher). The rate and the reliefs vary by Region and according to whether the property will be your sole, owner-occupied home.
See also: Notary fees
Calculer mes frais de notaire →A notarial deed cancelling the mortgage registered against a property, usually on resale or after early repayment. It generates costs of its own, separate from those of the sale.
An obligation on the owner to reach a given energy performance level within a set time. Flanders imposes it after buying a poorly rated home; Brussels has written a deadline into its energy code; Wallonia has announced a trajectory still to be put into law.
See also: EPC label, Energy performance certificate
The annual adjustment of the rent to the health index, possible once a year on the anniversary of the lease, at the landlord's request and never retroactively beyond the legal limits. In recent years the Regions have made indexation conditional on the home's energy rating.
See also: Main residence lease, EPC label
A sum blocked in the landlord's favour to cover any failings by the tenant. Its maximum amount and the permitted forms depend on the Region; it may never be paid into the landlord's current account.
See also: Main residence lease
The ratio between rent received and capital invested. Gross yield counts only the purchase price; net yield deducts deed costs, property tax, insurance, non-recoverable charges, void periods and works — the gap between the two is rarely small.
See also: Property tax, Indexed cadastral income
The co-ownership's collective savings for major works. An empty fund in an older building means calls for funds are coming: it is part of the price, not an administrative detail.
See also: Co-ownership, Service charges
What a household has left each month once the mortgage repayment and fixed charges are paid. Two files with the same debt-to-income ratio are not equivalent: a family with children and a single person do not have the same residual income at the same percentage.
See also: Debt-to-income ratio
The building's running costs shared between owners: maintenance, communal heating, lift, insurance, the manager's fee. Not to be confused with the reserve fund, which pays for major works to come.
See also: Co-ownership, Reserve fund
The fraction of the common parts attached to each unit, often expressed in thousandths. It determines how charges are split and how much weight your vote carries at the general meeting.
See also: Deed of division, Service charges
A document stating what the regional authority knows about possible contamination of a parcel. Requesting it is compulsory before a sale, with a different procedure and a different body in each Region.
See also: Town-planning information
A clause suspending the effect of the sale until something happens within an agreed time — most often obtaining the loan. If it does not happen, the sale is deemed never to have existed and the deposit is returned.
See also: Preliminary sale agreement
The official document sent by the tax authority setting out the amount due (basic tax, surcharges, reductions) and the payment deadline. This is the document you formally object to if you dispute the tax.
See also: Property tax
Compulsory cover for contractors, architects and other structural trades, insuring for ten years against defects affecting the stability or watertightness of a home. Ask for the certificate before the works start, not after.
See also: Provisional and final acceptance, Withholding obligation
Vérifier une entreprise →The municipality's written answer on the situation of a parcel: designated use, permits granted, known offences, public easements. The notary requests it before the deed; nothing stops you requesting it yourself before making an offer.
See also: Planning permission, Regional land-use plan
The situation where several people own the same property without it being physically divided, each holding a share. Important decisions require everyone's agreement, and no one is forced to stay: any co-owner can ask to get out.
See also: Bare ownership
The right to use a property and receive its income without owning it outright. It is the usufructuary, not the bare owner, who is liable for the property tax.
See also: Property tax
A rate revised at set intervals against a reference index, within legal limits known as caps. A loan marked 3/3/3 is revised every three years; a 5/5/5, every five. Belgian law limits how far the rate can rise.
See also: Fixed rate, Annual percentage rate of charge
A mechanism requiring whoever pays an invoice for building work to withhold part of the amount excluding VAT and pay it to the authorities when the company has social-security or tax debts. Failing to withhold can make the client jointly liable for those debts.
See also: Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, Ten-year liability insurance
Vérifier une entreprise →The former Flemish tax benefit for an owner-occupied home, abolished for loans taken out from 2020 onwards. Earlier loans keep the regime in force when they were concluded.