What should you check before making an offer on a house?

Before making an offer, ask for the documents the seller must provide: the EPC, the asbestos certificate, the soil certificate, the flood information, the property information, the post-intervention file and, for a flat, the documents of the owners’ association. Check the permits, easements, any right of pre-emption, heritage, plans in the area, the renovation obligation and the state of the building yourself. An offer the seller accepts is already a sale: include an end date and a condition precedent for your loan.

What the seller must provide

Ask for these documents before you make an offer. The seller must provide or state them, often already in the advertisement:

a valid EPC from 2019 or later; with label E or F, the advertisement, the compromis and the deed state that a renovation obligation applies;
the OVAM asbestos certificate for a building constructed in 2000 or earlier; for a flat, the certificate for the common parts is only required after 31 December 2026;
the OVAM soil certificate, which the seller requests and shares before the agreement;
for an old electrical installation, the inspection report;
the P-score and G-score for flooding, and whether the plot lies in a designated flood area or riverbank zone;
the property information: at the deed, an extract no more than one year old, showing among other things the permits and whether the building is in the established inventory of architectural heritage;
the post-intervention file, if construction or works began after 1 May 2001, with the structure, built-in pipes and cables, plans and materials;
for a flat, before you sign the offer or compromis, the documents of the owners’ association: working and reserve capital, the seller’s arrears, capital calls decided but not yet requested, pending lawsuits, the minutes of the last three years, the accounts of the last two years and the latest balance sheet.

A purchase involves other points too, such as the certificates required for a sale and checking whether a house is permitted. 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.

What you check yourself

the permits, in the municipality’s permit register; something that is time-barred is not therefore permitted;
easements and party walls, in the title deed and with the notary;
any right of pre-emption, on the ‘Recht van voorkoop’ map on Geopunt and in the property information;
heritage, in the Flemish heritage inventory (Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed);
flooding, with the report per plot on waterinfo.vlaanderen.be;
the soil: read in the soil certificate whether the plot is risk land and what OVAM says about the soil quality;
plans and applications in the area, in the spatial plans geoportal, the municipality’s plan register and the public inspection portal (Inzageloket);
the renovation obligation: with label E or F, you must reach at least label D within six years of the deed; budget for it before you make an offer;
the state of the building: have a building surveyor or contractor look at it with you.

Where to find each of these documents and who requests it is set out in the step-by-step guide to checking a plot.

Which small works to the house and garden were allowed without a permit is explained in the guide to building without a permit.

The offer and the compromis

An offer contains all the essential elements. The contract is formed as soon as the acceptance reaches you, with no formal requirement. An acceptance with changes is a refusal and at most a new offer. Your offer is irrevocable for the period it states; without an end date, it binds you for a reasonable period. So always include an end date.

Make your offer in writing, with name, address, price, period of validity, date and signature. From €3,500, an agreement must in principle be proven by a signed document.
Include a condition precedent: the sale only goes ahead if you get your loan. In practice this is often four weeks; you set the period.
Pay the deposit, usually 5 to 10% of the price, into the notary’s client account, not to the seller.
The compromis must be submitted for registration within four months; if the notarial deed is signed within those four months, that is enough.

The costs

When you buy an existing home, you pay sales duty, a registration tax:

12% at the general rate;
2% for your only own home for deeds from 1 January 2025, if natural persons buy full ownership, own no other home or building plot in full ownership on the date of the deed (or sell it within two years) and register at the address within three years;
stricter conditions for sale agreements from 1 January 2026: if a company buys with you or the purchase is split, the rate does not apply, and you must stay registered for at least one uninterrupted year;
an extra reduction of €1,867 for a modest home up to €220,000, or €240,000 in a core city or the Flemish periphery around Brussels;
for a new build, 21% VAT instead of sales duty.

An increase to 3% from 2027 has only been announced and is not yet law: check the position with the notary or the Flemish Tax Authority just before you buy. The cost of the owners’ association documents is borne by the seller. This is not tax advice.

What the Perceelscan shows

For each address, the Perceelscan shows, from public registers:

the plan that applies, with the zone, and the planning regulations;
plans in preparation and expropriation plans;
heritage, flooding, pre-emption rights and nature;
Seveso sites and OVAM’s soil investigations;
vacancy and housing quality;
the environmental permits on the plot and at the neighbours, and historical maps;
how many m² of floor area can be built under the rules.

It does not show asbestos, the EPC, the owner or easements, and it does not replace the seller’s documents, the notary or an expert.

In the other regions

In Brussels: What should you check before buying a house in Brussels?
In Wallonia: What should you check before buying a house in Wallonia?

Sources

Check it for your address

Updated on 24 October 2026