Belgium

Registering Property in

Belgium

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: EUR 1,639,240.02
  • City: Brussels

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Parties give initial sale agreement to notary

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). The notary also checks, for companies, the copy of the publication of the names of the directors in the Belgian Official Gazette.

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

1 day included in procedure 7
* 2 Notary obtains excerpt and plan from land register ("kadaster / cadastre") indicating the exact land register references

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 identity and address of the (assumed) owner.

The transfer deed must contain the latest cadastral information about the property to be transferred. Notaries can now verify the most updated cadastral information on that property online and print the information to complete the transaction.

The notary can obtain the excerpt from the land register ("Matrice cadastrale") directly from the land register's database by electronic means.
The official document ("Extrait cadastral") has to be requested by e-mail but is sent to the notary via regular mail. The "matrice cadastrale" provides basically the same information as the "extrait cadastral".


Agency: Land register ("kadaster / cadastre") 		1day (simultaneous with procedures 3, 4, 5 and 6) EUR 20 (EUR 3.15 per request + EUR 5.5 excerpt of the cadastral matrix (212 AM) + EUR 11 excerpt of the cadastral plan) (included in proc 7)
* 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

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 -right to use the property-, superficies-right to construct), 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).


Agency: Mortgage Office (Mortgage register) 		15-30 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 4, 5 and 6) EUR 50 (excerpt, included in proc 7) + EUR 35 (copies of deeds, included in 7)
* 4 Notary obtains zoning certificates from the municipality

The notary obtains zoning certificates

Agency: Municipality 		30 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, 5 and 6) EUR 120 (included in proc 7)
* 5 Notary obtains tax certificates relating to the seller's tax position from tax administration (Inland Revenue)

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. The request to obtain a tax certificate from the Flemish Region concerning the annual real estate tax ("Précompte Immobilier") can be done online too, as from October 2009. The only tax information which still needs to be asked by registered letter is the municipal or provincial tax information.

Since April 2007, the request could be submitted online but the response would still arrive within 15 days.

For individuals, since November 2009, there is an automatic response from administrations VAT and DT if the concerned citizen fulfills certain conditions (unknown in the VAT), unknown to the CBE (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises), he's a natural person, he's a resident and he has no open-debt the day of the information.

Since April 2007 notaries have to verify at the same time the seller's social security position. The notary has to verify with every social security fund (there are +/- 15 of them). However, this process is done electronically, simultaneously with the verification of the tax position. The procedure is integrated in the existing procedure related to the tax position of the seller. The time needed for this verification is 15 days as well. It takes place fully electronically, just as the obtention of the tax certificates.







Agency: Inland Revenue 		15 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, 4 and 6) EUR 60 (included in proc 7)
* 6 Obtain a clean-soil certificate IBGE/BIM

Brussels legislation on soil clean-up has entered into force on 1 January 2010 (Ordonnance du 5 mars 2009 relative à la gestion et l'assainissement des sols pollués) states that a soil certificate is now required for every transfer of land. A soil survey also needs to be done for land where a risk activity has been performed.
The time limit is 20 days from reception of the (valid) request to obtain a soil certificate. As of May 2010, the soil certificate has been delivered free of charge but the cost will be settled in the implementing measures (“uitvoeringsbesluit/arrêté d’exécution”) of the new Act on polluted soils which still has to be adopted and published.

With this new Act, the seller of an immoveable good has to ask the Brussels environmental authorities (BIM) for a soil certificate (attestation du sol/bodemattest) which he has to transmit to the buyer before the conclusion of the private sale agreement (compromis de vente). For some type of lands, an expert must examine the land to check whether the soil is polluted ("reconnaissance du sol /verkennend bodemonderzoek"). On basis of the results of this survey, BIM decides whether the transfer can take place without any further measure or whether the condition of the soil requires additional measures to be taken (clean-up,…). If additional measures have to be taken, the transfer can nevertheless take place before the clean-up if some conditions are fulfilled. This new Act is a transposition of European legislation (article 17§2 of the Ordinance of 5 March 2009).


Agency: Brussels Institute for Environmental Management (IBGE/BIM) 		20 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, 4 and 5) EUR 30
7 The notary draws up the deed based on the agreement between the parties

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 the buyer company 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).

The notary’s fees are determined by law (Arrete Royal) and the payment of the registration duties and notary fees takes place after the signature of the deed.

*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 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.

The pre-emption rights exist in some predetermined areas of the Flemish and Brussels Region. The seller or the notary notifies the competent administration (GRONDREGIE / REGIE FONCIERE ) as soon as he receives the "compromis". These administrations then have 2 months to decide whether to exercise their pre-emption right. Some pre-emption rights also exist in the Walloon Region. The areas in Brussels where needed to obtain a waiver for preemption are specified in the website: http://www.bruxelles.irisnet.be/fr/citoyens/home/logement/acheter_vendre/perimetre_de_preemption.shtml

 1-2 days included in proc 7
8 The notary applies for registration with the local Registration Office (Tax Office) and also with the Mortgage Office

The notary is required to present the original deed itself to his local Registration Office (Tax office) within 15 days after the date of execution for payment of the stamp duties. The notary is also required to present an authentic copy of the deed to the Mortgage office for transcription within 1 month from the date of the deed (this guarantees publicity vis-à-vis third parties).
The mortgage register will verify all documentation and complete the transfer in its records and send a certified copy of the deed.

In the Flemish Region (does not include Brussels), the registration fee (tax) is 10.0%. For so-called Brownfields (severely contaminated fields) exemptions of the registration fee (0.0 %) have been introduced in Flanders. For new buildings (not older than ca. 2 years) the value of the buildings and the related lands are taxed under VAT regime (21% but deductible), rather than under a registration fee (12.5% or 10%)."



Agency: Mortgage Office (Mortgage register) 		1 month 12.5% of transaction price (registration fee) + EUR 3,500 (notary fees and costs)
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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