Every year there are some changes when it comes to (re)buying and (re)renting a house or apartment. 2022 is no exception. With our short summary you are already aware of the changes and you will not encounter (unpleasant) surprises.
Owners of property abroad taxed differently
From 2022, for the first time, owners of real estate abroad will have to fill in a cadastral income on their tax return. So there will no longer be a distinction between a property in Belgium and abroad.
When selling a house or condo, you need a recent EPC
EPC stands for ‘Energy Performance Certificate‘ and indicates how well your home scores energy-wise. Starting in 2022, you must use an EPC from 2019 or more recent when selling a house or apartment. Last year, the EPC was still allowed to be up to 10 years old. Do you rent out houses or apartments? If so, nothing will change. You may still continue to use the existing EPC if it is up to 10 years old. What is also a change is the mandatory EPC for common parts of apartment buildings if there are at least 15 residential units. From 2023, this will also apply to medium-sized apartment buildings (from 5 to 14 residential units), and from 2024 also to the smallest apartment buildings (from 2 to 4 residential units). This obligation is independent of the rental or sale of apartments in the building.
Mortgage loan changes
Starting in 2022, banks are required to accompany a mortgage loan with an appraisal. The appraisal does not have to be made by an appraiser who comes on site. From 2022, the amount you borrow will be calculated based on the appraised value and not on the purchase price. At the National Bank, it is expected that banks will often use a statistical model. This would eliminate the additional cost of having an estimator come on site. The parameters involved in the estimation include the sales prices of properties in the neighborhood that have recently sold.
Changes in registration tax
Are you planning to buy a building lot? If so, you will have to pay more registration tax from now on. On top of that, registration fees on an additional home will also increase from about 10 to 12 percent. But also good news: the registration fee for the sole and own family home goes from 6 to 3 percent. So in this case, you may not be a full owner of another home or building land. Do you still own other real estate? Then you can still enjoy this favorable rate by selling your real estate within 2 years. You must also move into the address within three years of purchase. There is also good news for those who are going to make major energetic changes to an outdated property. In this case, the registration tax actually goes from 5 to 1 percent. Also good to know: the limit amounts to qualify as a modest family home will be raised from 200,000 to 220,000 euros. For a home in one of the 16 core cities, this will increase to 240,000 euros. Finally, a change in the system of portability. Portability is the possibility of deducting registration tax paid on a previous home from the registration tax on a subsequent home. This portability is being phased out and will eventually disappear completely in 2024. The home changes for 2023 are nicely summarized in this article. Still have questions about (re)renting or (re)buying? You may find the answers in our articles on renting, letting, buying or selling.