What do the terms used when buying a house mean?

When you buy a house in Flanders, you come across terms from spatial planning, water policy, heritage, soil, civil law and taxation. Below they are grouped by subject, each in one or two sentences. This is not legal or tax advice: for your own case, ask the notary, the municipality or the competent service.

Plans

Regional plan (gewestplan): the zoning plan for all of Flanders, giving the use of each zone, such as residential or agricultural. It applies wherever no spatial implementation plan or land-use plan replaces it.
General land-use plan (algemeen plan van aanleg, APA): a municipal plan for a municipality’s whole territory, with land uses and provisions, drawn up under the old planning law.
Special land-use plan (bijzonder plan van aanleg, BPA): a municipal plan for part of a municipality, often a district or street, with detailed provisions. It remains in force until a spatial implementation plan replaces it.
Spatial implementation plan (ruimtelijk uitvoeringsplan, RUP): a plan by the region, province or municipality that sets the use and provisions for an area. There it replaces the regional plan or a land-use plan.
Expropriation plan: the plan attached to an expropriation decision that marks the plots to be expropriated. If it is drawn up together with a spatial implementation plan, it is in the plan register.
Building line (rooilijn): the boundary between the public road and the adjoining plots. On land affected by it, no permit to build or extend is granted, except among other things for maintenance, stability works and facade insulation up to 14 cm.
Non-conforming (zonevreemd): a structure that does not match the use of the area where it stands, and is not in a valid subdivision less than 15 years old.
Planning certificate (stedenbouwkundig attest): a certificate that states, based on a plan, whether a project can reasonably be permitted. It is not a permit, but binds the authority for two years, unless new facts arise.

A purchase involves other points too, such as who provides which information on a plot and the pre-emption right. What a report on an address costs is listed under Perceelscan pricing. You can work out the taxes on a purchase for free with the registration duties calculator and the property tax calculator.

Permits

Environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning): a single permit for building and renovating, subdividing land and operating classified installations.
Planning permit: the permit for building and renovating before the environmental permit; it is now called the environmental permit for planning works.
Subdivision permit (verkavelingsvergunning): a permit to divide land into lots for housing, now the environmental permit for subdividing land. It must appear in the advertisement, the compromis and the deed.
Subdivision rules: the rules in a subdivision permit on what is allowed on a lot, such as the building zone, the height or the roof shape. After 15 years they are no longer grounds for refusal, except for roads and public green space.
Permit register (vergunningenregister): a municipal database per plot with permits, refusals, certificates, reports of offences and structures deemed permitted. Anyone may consult it.
Presumption of a permit: a structure built before 22 April 1962 is always deemed permitted. One built later, up to the entry into force of the regional plan, is too, unless a report of an offence or a non-anonymous objection within five years of construction contradicts it.
Mainly permitted (hoofdzakelijk vergund): at least 90% of the gross built volume is permitted or deemed permitted, including its use.
Remedial measure: what the authority can impose or claim to undo a planning offence, such as restoration, a capital gain payment or damages. It is time-barred five years after it is established and at the latest twenty years after the facts; time-barred never means permitted.
Property information (vastgoedinlichtingen): the extract from the plan and permit registers, with more than 50 items, requested through the property information platform. At the deed it is no more than one year old.
Public inspection portal (Inzageloket): online access to environmental permit files during the public inquiry and the appeal period.

Water

Flood-prone area: an area where, according to the Flemish government’s flood maps, there is a chance of flooding from watercourses, the sea or heavy rainfall. That chance is now expressed in the P-score and the G-score.
P-score: a score from A to D for the flood chance of the plot. A means no flooding modelled, B a small chance in the 2050 climate, C a small chance and D a medium chance in the current climate.
G-score: the same score for the buildings larger than 25 m² on the plot. The P-score is never lower than the G-score.
Information duty: the obligation, when selling, to state the P-score, the G-score and any location in a designated flood area or riverbank zone in the advertising, the compromis and the deed.
Water test (watertoets): the assessment of the effects on the water system by the authority deciding on a permit or plan. It can lead to conditions or a refusal.

Heritage

Protected monument: a property that the Flemish Government protects for its heritage value of general interest, together with its cultural objects and decorative elements.
Protected townscape or village: a protected group of monuments or other properties with their surroundings, such as planting, streets and squares.
Established architectural heritage: a building in the established inventory of architectural heritage. It is not protected, but for a demolition permit the authority must weigh its heritage value, and the deed mentions the listing.
Heritage inventory (Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed): the public database where you can see for each building whether it is protected or in an established inventory.

Soil and building

Soil certificate (bodemattest): an OVAM certificate stating what OVAM knows about a plot’s soil, such as risk land and an assessment of soil quality. It is required before land is transferred.
Risk land (risicogrond): land on which an activity that can pollute the soil is or was carried out. Before a sale, a soil investigation must first be carried out.
Asbestos certificate (asbestattest): an OVAM certificate based on an inventory by an asbestos expert, concluding whether the building is asbestos-safe. It is required for the sale of a building constructed in 2000 or earlier.
EPC (energy performance certificate): a certificate with an energy score in kWh per m² per year and a label from A+ to F, drawn up by an energy assessor. It is required for sale and letting and valid for no more than ten years.
Renovation obligation: anyone who has acquired a home with label E or F since 2023 must reach at least label D within six years of the deed.
Electrical inspection: an inspection of the electrical installation by an accredited body, required when selling a home with an old installation.
Post-intervention file (postinterventiedossier): the file for working safely on a building later, with the structure, built-in pipes and cables, plans and materials. It is required on a sale after works that began after 1 May 2001.

Ownership and tax

Right of pre-emption (voorkooprecht): the legal right of a public body or institution to buy a property that is being sold first, at the same price and on the same terms.
Registration duties (sales duty): the tax on buying real estate: 12% in general, 2% for your only own home for deeds from 1 January 2025.
Easement (erfdienstbaarheid): a burden on a property, the servient land, for the benefit of someone else’s property, the dominant land, such as a right of way.
Party ownership (mandeligheid): compulsory joint ownership of a boundary between two plots, such as a wall, hedge, ditch or fence. A boundary on the property line is presumed to be jointly owned.
Owners’ association (vereniging van mede-eigenaars, VME): the legal entity of all the owners in a block of flats, which manages the common parts through the property manager (syndic).

The sale

Offer: a proposal with all the essential elements. It binds the bidder for the period stated, without an end date for a reasonable period, and becomes a contract as soon as the seller accepts it.
Compromis: the private sale agreement before the notarial deed, which must be submitted for registration within four months.
Condition precedent: a condition in the offer or compromis on which the sale depends, for example that you get your loan.
Property information platform (Vastgoedinformatieplatform, VIP): the Flemish platform through which property information and, since 2026, soil certificates are requested.
Woningpas: the free digital file for each home, including the EPC, certificates and permits, which only the owner manages and can share.

In the other regions

In Brussels: What do the Brussels terms mean when you buy a house?
In Wallonia: What do the Walloon terms in a contract or deed mean?

Sources

Check it for your address

Updated on 24 October 2026