Countries · Belgium
What to check in Belgium before you sign.
You pay twice here: first the highest one-off purchase costs in western Europe, then the compulsory refurbishment, because a large part of the stock is in poor energy condition.
What costs the most money in Belgium
A flat with the poor energy label F still cost €244,012 on average in 2024, a year later only €203,488. That is a loss of around 17 percent in a single year. Over the same period, flats with label A rose from €335,611 to €346,287. The label is no footnote here, it is the price.
Source: Notariatsbarometer Q4 2025 der Föderation des belgischen Notariats
Purchase costs
4 to 15%
of the purchase price, on top of the price in the listing.
- Flanders, sole own home2 %
- Flanders, general12 %
- Wallonia, sole own home3 %
- Wallonia and Brussels, general12,5 %
- Brussels, first €200,000 exemptup to €25,000 savings
- New build, instead of transfer tax21% VAT
Source: Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Statbel and the Brussels-Capital Region, as at 2025 and 2026. Flanders and Wallonia cut the rates for a sole own home sharply on 1 January 2025. The overall ranges are calculated from the individual items; they are not an officially published figure.
The trap for tenants
Indexing the rent does not happen by itself. It requires a registered tenancy agreement, has to be requested in writing and takes effect no more than three months back. In Brussels the landlord may only index at all if a valid energy certificate exists, and for classes E, F and G only at a reduced rate.
Energy and the duty to renovate
In Flanders a missing valid energy certificate costs between €500 and €5,000, and paying does not remove the duty. Since 1 January 2023 there is more: anyone acquiring a building in class E or F has to bring it to at least class D within six years. Failing that costs €500 to €5,000. The further tightening originally planned was dropped; class D stands.
Source: Vlaams Energie- en Klimaatagentschap, 2026
Certificate validity: 10 years
What to watch for in Belgium in particular
In Flanders every transfer of land needs a soil certificate, even for an unsuspicious plot. On top of that come hard disclosure duties on planning: whether a building permit was granted, whether proceedings over a building breach are running and whether a judgment has been handed down. Where these statements are missing, courts treat the preliminary contract as void.
Source: OVAM und Vlaamse Codex Ruimtelijke Ordening, Artikel 5.2.1 bis 5.2.6
Official maps in Belgium
7 map layers lie directly over your property.
Not as an average for the district, but at your exact address, with a legend and a visible source. Every layer can be switched on separately.
Check it yourself
The official bodies in Belgium.
Scan my Home checks against these sources. You can call up every one of them yourself, and that is exactly the point: a figure you cannot verify is not a figure, it is a claim.
Ownership & charges
Patrimoniumdocumentatie (FOD Financiën)
Ownership, mortgages, charges
Value & land value
Cadastral data, parcels, area
Energy
EPC Energieprestatiecertificaat (VEKA/Wallonie/Brüssel)
Registered energy certificate
Building & zoning
Omgevingsloket / Gewestplan
Zoning, permits, planned development
The market in Belgium
The average price for a house was €346,218 in 2025 and €275,862 for a flat. The number of sales rose by around 15 percent in the first nine months of 2025 against the year before.
Source: Königlicher Verband des belgischen Notariats, Immobilienbarometer 2025
A real dossier from this country
See what the analysis found on an actual listing in Belgium — every figure with its source.
Open the example dossierOther countries