Guides
Guides
Answers to one precise question, sourced and dated. What Belgian law says, and how Kiadah puts it into practice.
- The platform
How a digital purchase offer works
From the link the agency hands out to the acceptance the seller signs: the steps of a purchase offer filed online, the trace each one leaves, and where the circuit stops.
4 min read - The platform
Counter-offer: what it cancels and what it restarts
Answering an offer with a different price does not amend it: it extinguishes it and creates a new one. Who is bound at which moment, how deadlines work, and what happens when several offers arrive at once.
3 min read - The platform
Signing an offer with itsme: what it proves, and what it does not
A qualified electronic signature has the same legal effect as a handwritten one. What it establishes exactly, what it does not, and why the log around it matters just as much.
3 min read - Buying
The notarial deed: what actually happens at signing?
Between the preliminary agreement and the notarial deed, the notary carries out mandatory checks. What they verify, how long it takes and what happens on signing day.
3 min read - Tax
Gifting a property: how gift duty works in Belgium
Mandatory notarial deed, progressive regional scales, aggregation of successive gifts, reserved usufruct: how property gifting works in Belgium.
3 min read - Renting
Registering a lease: who must do it, and what is at stake?
Registering a residential lease is free and falls to the landlord, within two months. What it protects, how to do it, and what happens when it is missing.
3 min read - Renting
Inventory of fixtures: why it decides the rental deposit
The entry inventory is mandatory, jointly drawn up and annexed to the lease. What it must contain, who pays for it, and how the comparison at exit determines what is withheld.
3 min read - Investing
Short-term letting: which rules apply before you start?
Regional registration, co-ownership rules, municipal planning, taxation: the four layers of rules to check before letting a home as tourist accommodation in Belgium.
3 min read - Practical
Which works require a planning permit?
Building, altering the structure, changing the use, modifying the exterior: which acts require a permit in Belgium, which are exempt, and what an infringement costs at resale.
3 min read - Buying
Fixed or variable rate: how to choose in Belgium?
The Belgian variable rate is capped by law, with normalised revision periods. How to read a 1/1/1 or 5/5/5 offer and when each formula makes sense.
3 min read - Buying
Hidden defects: what the seller actually guarantees
Damp, damaged roof timbers, non-compliant wiring: when a defect discovered after purchase binds the seller, what the exclusion clause changes, and within what time you must act.
3 min read - Buying
How much can I borrow to buy?
Loan-to-value, effort ratio, down payment, term: the four parameters the bank examines to set your borrowing capacity, and why the costs are paid in cash.
3 min read - Tax
Inheritance tax on a property: how is it calculated?
Inheritance tax is regional and progressive, calculated on the value of the property according to the family relationship. Why the valuation of the property on the date of death is decisive.
3 min read - Renting
Rent indexation: how it works and who can apply it
Rent indexation follows the health index, once a year, on the anniversary date of the lease. The formula, the conditions and the restrictions linked to energy performance.
2 min read - Investing
Rental yield: how to calculate it without getting it wrong
Gross yield, net yield, all-in purchase price: the method for assessing what a rental investment really returns, and the costs people forget.
3 min read - Renting
House sharing: which lease and what joint-liability rules?
Single lease, sharing pact, joint-liability clause, departure of a housemate: how house sharing works in Belgium and why the regime depends on the Region.
3 min read - Tax
How is the cadastral income calculated, and what is it used for?
The cadastral income is a notional rental income set in 1975 and indexed every year. How it is determined, what it triggers and why you must declare it after renovation work.
3 min read - Buying
Sales agreement (compromis): what are you really signing?
In Belgium, the compromis counts as a sale: the commitment is firm the moment you sign. Suspensive conditions, deposit, delay until the deed - what to check before signing.
3 min read - Practical
Do you need an energy performance certificate to sell or rent a property?
The energy performance certificate is mandatory as soon as a home is put up for sale or rent in Belgium. Who issues it, how long it is valid and what it must contain.
3 min read - Renting
Rental deposit: amount, blocked account and return
How much rental deposit can be required, where must it be placed and how is it returned? The rules differ depending on the Region of the home.
3 min read - Buying
Purchase offer: are you bound as soon as it's accepted?
A written, accepted purchase offer can already form the sale, before any preliminary agreement. What an offer actually commits you to, how to frame it, and how it differs from the compromis de vente.
3 min read - Tax
Real estate capital gains: are they taxed in Belgium?
Selling for more than you paid: when the capital gain is exempt, when it is taxed, and the holding periods that make all the difference between a built property and land.
3 min read - Tax
Property tax (précompte immobilier): who pays it and how is it calculated?
The property tax is an annual tax calculated on the indexed cadastral income. How it is made up, why it varies sharply from one municipality to another, and who is liable for it.
3 min read - Tax
Purchase costs: what the buyer really pays, on top of the price
The structure of acquisition costs in Belgium - registration duties, deed fees, credit - and why you need to work them out before making an offer.
4 min read