Flanders will implement an amendment to registration fees applicable to home purchases from the 1st of June, after the Flemish parliament unanimously approval a bill to that effect that was passed in December 2017 by the government of Prime Minister Geert Bourgeois. The opposition Groen (Green) party and Socialistische Partij Anders (sp-a) abstained.
Registration fees for home purchases will be reduced from 10% to 7% in the north of the country as long as it is the household’s only dwelling.
To enhance low-income households’ access to property, homes costing less than 200,000 euros will benefit from a tax exemption on the first 80,000 euros, which will represent 5,600 euros in savings.
The 10% registration fee will still apply to second homes, commercial premises and office buildings.
The expectation that the bill would be approved by parliament had an effect on the real estate market in Flanders. For the month of February alone, the number of real-estate transactions decreased by about 8%. This led the Government to speed things up so that the new rules could be applied from the 1st of June.
The Brussels Times
