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12.5% of transaction price (registration fee) + EUR 3,500 (notary fees and costs)
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Registration Requirement Details
Procedure 1.
Parties give initial sale agreement to notary and pay registration duties and notary fees
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
included in procedure 7
Name of Agency:
Comment:
The transfer of ownership can be done by an agreement between seller and buyer. However, in order to validate the transfer of ownership vis-à-vis third parties, the initial agreement needs to be notarized and registered with the mortgage register by a notary. The notary will draw up a deed and obtain all necessary documentation (see following procedures). Registration duties and notary fees/costs are due up-front. The notary’s fees are determined by law (Arrete Royal).
The documentation shall include: - initial sale agreement - proper proof of identification, or, in the case of a company, the memorandum of association/articles of incorporation/by-laws
Procedure 2.
Notary obtains excerpt and plan from land register ("kadaster / cadastre") indicating the exact land register references
Time to complete:
10 days (simultaneous with procedures 3, 4, and 5)
Cost to complete:
EUR 20 (EUR 3.50 per request + EUR 5.5 excerpt of the cadastral matrix (212 AM) + EUR 11 excerpt of the cadastral plan) (included in proc 7)
Name of Agency:
Land register ("kadaster / cadastre")
Comment:
Notary obtains excerpt and plan from land register ("kadaster / cadastre") indicating the exact land register references, or (i) the detailed address/location of the property or, if the address/location is not available, (ii) the former cadastral information of the property or, if neither the address/location nor the former cadastral information is available, (iii) the exact identity of the (assumed) owner.
Procedure 3.
Notary obtains excerpt from the mortgage register to verify whether certain third party rights were granted over the property and copies of the transfer deeds over a 30-year period
Time to complete:
15-30 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 4, and 5)
Cost to complete:
EUR 50 (excerpt, included in proc 7) + EUR 10 (copies of deeds, included in 7)
Name of Agency:
Mortgage Register
Comment:
The notary obtains an excerpt from the mortgage register in order to verify whether certain third party rights were granted over the property, e.g. through mortgages, rights to construct ("opstalrecht / droit de superficie"). A 30-year title search (if the acquisition is financed through a mortgage backed facility agreement) will be included in the documents. The notary obtains copies of the transfer deeds over a 30-year period at the same place. The mortgage registry provides (i) "full transcription" of the title or of the judgment attributing the title: the date of acquisition of the full ownership or other right over the property (such as usufruct, superficies), the terms and conditions of the acquisition including the purchase price, the existence of lease contracts exceeding 9 years and information on the rights of third parties such as judgments, servitudes/easements and seizures affecting the property in question for the past 30 years and (ii) by "inscription" whether the right over the property is encumbered by a mortgage or a legal lien (beneficiary, amount, costs, term).
Procedure 4.
Notary obtains zoning certificates from the municipality
Time to complete:
45 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, and 5)
Cost to complete:
EUR 150 (included in proc 7)
Name of Agency:
Municipality
Comment:
The notary obtains zoning certificates
Procedure 5.
Notary obtains tax certificates relating to the seller's tax position from tax administration (Inland Revenue)
Time to complete:
15 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, and 4)
Cost to complete:
EUR 60 (included in proc 7)
Name of Agency:
Inland Revenue
Comment:
The notary obtains tax certificates relating to the seller's tax position from the Inland Revenue, the VAT authorities and the municipal tax collector relating to the seller's tax position. A request for this information can be submitted online, but the response will arrive 15 days later. If there is no answer within 12 working days, the notary can process the deed anyway, therefore assuming there are no tax issues.
Since April 2007, the request could be submitted online but the response would still arrive within 15 days.
Procedure 6.
The notary draws up the deed based on the agreement between the parties
Time to complete:
1-2 days
Cost to complete:
included in proc 7
Name of Agency:
Comment:
On the basis of the agreement between the parties, the notary will draw up a deed after obtaining the required documents.
Normally, the seller and buying company enter into a private agreement (“de compromisovereenkomst / le compromis”) in which the main contractual provisions (price, subject matter, obligations of both parties, etc) are listed. Subject to fulfillment of certain conditions precedent, if any, such agreement will transfer title to the buyer. Vis-à-vis third parties, title will pass upon registration of the deed with the mortgage register (“hypotheekkantoor / registre des hypothèques” ) referred to in the following procedure. Common conditions precedent are: waiver of pre-emption rights over the property and obtaining of consents from local authorities. Transfer of title between parties can be made subject to the registration of the deed with the mortgage registry.
The documentation shall include*: Before execution of the deed, the notary will normally have obtained the following documents: Excerpt and plan from the land register (“kadaster / cadastre”) indicating the exact land register references (obtained in Procedure 2) Copies of all transfer deed over a 30-year period (obtained in Procedure 3) Zoning certificates; (obtained in Procedure 4) Tax certificates from the Inland Revenue, the VAT authorities and the municipal tax collector relating to the seller’s tax position (the same certificates will be requested with regard to ABC if it finances the acquisition through a mortgage backed facility agreement); (obtained in Procedure 5) Obtaining waivers of pre-emption rights and consents from local authorities, if any; Excerpt from the mortgage register in order to verify whether certain third party rights were granted over the property, e.g. mortgages, rights to construct (“opstalrecht / droit de superficie”), etc; (obtained in Procedure 3) and A 30-year title search (if the acquisition is financed through a mortgage backed facility agreement) (obtained in Procedure 3).
*Note (prior to the sales agreement): In the Flemish region: Under the Flemish Soil Cleanup Statute, a transfer of land may only be completed if the transfer deed is accompanied by a soil certificate. A soil certificate is an administrative document that summarizes all the information that OVAM (the Flemish waste agency) has about the condition of the soil on a certain parcel of land. In principle, the transferor has the duty to apply to OVAM for this document. OVAM issues the document within one month from receipt of the application. For this purpose, 'transfer' includes the transfer of rights in real estate and lease of land and some corporate restructuring transactions (eg mergers and de-mergers). Moreover, land on which potentially soil-polluting activities currently take place or have taken place in the past may only be transferred if a preliminary soil survey was carried out in advance of the transfer. On the basis of the results of this survey, OVAM decides whether the transfer can take place without any further measures or whether the condition of the soil requires additional measures to be taken. In the latter case, the first additional measure is to undertake a descriptive soil survey, which serves to determine the nature and extent of the pollution. If the descriptive soil survey establishes pollution that requires cleanup, the transfer of the land cannot take place until parties submit a clean-up proposal, undertake to conduct the required cleanup and deposit financial security to cover the clean-up costs. A soil survey has to be undertaken before any transfer of land in case soil-polluting activities have taken place or if this land is listed in the database of polluted soils. If necessary, measures must be taken to clean up the soil.
The new Brussels legislation on soil clean-up will oblige a seller of real estate on which a risk activity has been performed to draft a soil survey and, if clean-up is deemed necessary by the Brussels environmental authorities (BIM), to perform clean-up measures prior to transferring the polluted site. Contrary to the Flemish Region (where property rights may be transferred as soon as sufficient financial guarantees are in place), the Brussels statute on soil clean-up does not allow to proceed with the transfer before the actual clean-up works have been completed.
Procedure 7.
The notary applies for registration with the Mortgage Register and a certified copy of the deed is sent to the buyer
Time to complete:
1 month
Cost to complete:
12.5% of transaction price (registration fee) + EUR 3,500 (notary fees and costs)
Name of Agency:
Mortgage Register
Comment:
The notary is required to present the deed to the mortgage register for registration within 15 days from the date of execution. Registration with the mortgage register is required to render the transfer enforceable vis-à-vis bona fide third parties. It may take about 1 month for the mortgage register to verify all documentation and complete the transfer in its records and send a certified copy of the deed.
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