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Preliminary sale agreement template for Belgium

Private sale agreementCompromis de vente

The private agreement that concludes the sale before the notarial deed. Once signed it binds both parties: the seller must sell and the buyer must buy at the agreed price, subject to the conditions it states. The buyer pays a deposit into the notary's escrow account.

Use it once the seller has accepted an offer, or instead of an offer, when both parties want to commit. In Belgium the compromis is a sale, not a promise: no general cooling-off period applies afterwards. Ask a notary to draft it or at least to review it before you sign. A Brussels compromis must state many administrative facts (planning information, soil certificate, energy certificate, electrical inspection), and Notaire.be publishes a plain-language model per region that you can compare with this template.

Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.

Key facts

Applies to
Brussels-Capital Region. In Flanders (verkoopovereenkomst) and Wallonia the structure is the same, but the certificates, planning rules and registration duties differ.
Effect
A compromis de vente is a sale: neither party can withdraw once it is signed, even before any payment (Notaire.be).
Deposit (garantie)
Usually 5% to 10% of the price, held in the notary's escrow account until the deed (Notaire.be).
Registration deadline
4 months for the private agreement, unless the notarial deed is signed within the same period (SPF Finances).
Time to the deed
No general legal deadline. Signing the deed within 4 months avoids registering the agreement (SPF Finances).
Registration duties, Brussels
12.5%. No duties on the first EUR 200,000 for a buyer's main home if the price is at most EUR 600,000 (SPF Finances).
Registration duties, Wallonia
3% for the buyer's own and only home since 1 January 2025, otherwise 12.5% (SPF Finances, Wallonie.be).
Registration duties, Flanders
2% for the only own home for deeds from 1 January 2025, otherwise 12% (SPF Finances, Vlaanderen.be).
Flemish 2% rate, residence rule
For agreements from 1 January 2026, the buyer must stay registered at the home for at least 1 uninterrupted year (Vlaanderen.be).
Co-ownership documents
Statement of debts within 30 days (Civil Code art. 3.89, § 5). Documents due before the compromis (art. 3.94).
Brussels tenant's right of preference
30 days to accept the notified price and terms; 7 days if the seller later sells on better terms (Brussels Housing Code art. 247/2).

The document

Text shown

You sign the French version. The English version helps you understand it. Your answers fill both.

Private sale agreement

  1. 1.Seller and buyer

    1. 1.1

      The seller: Seller.

      Give the full name, address, date of birth, marital status, email and phone of every seller here and of every buyer below.

    2. 1.2

      The buyer: Buyer, who declares that he acquires How the buyers share the property.

      How co-buyers share the property affects tax, inheritance and resale. Decide it with the notary before signing.

    3. 1.3

      The seller sells to the buyer, who accepts, the property described below, on the terms of this agreement.

  2. 2.Property sold

    1. 2.1

      The property located at Address of the property, consisting of Description, registered in the cadastre as Cadastral reference. The buyer declares that he has visited the property and does not ask for a more detailed description.

      For a flat, give the floor, lot numbers, shares of the common parts, cellar and parking. Copy the cadastral reference from the title deed or extract.

    2. 2.2

      The non-indexed cadastral income of the property is Non-indexed cadastral income euros. The seller declares that no revision procedure is pending.

      The cadastral income is the base of the annual property tax (précompte immobilier).

  3. 3.Price and deposit

    1. 3.1

      The sale is agreed at the price of Price in euros, in figures euros (Price in words euros).

    2. 3.2

      On signing this agreement, the buyer pays a deposit of Deposit euros into the escrow account of Notary holding the deposit. This sum stays held in the buyer's name until the notarial deed is signed, when it counts as a part payment of the price. The balance of the price is paid when the notarial deed is signed.

      Give the notary's name and escrow account (compte tiers). Never pay the seller. Escrow funds are safe from the seller's and the notary's creditors.

  4. 4.Costs

    1. 4.1

      The buyer pays the registration duties, disbursements, fees and VAT relating to the notarial deed, and the costs of his loan. The seller pays the costs of offering and delivering the property, in particular the PEB certificate, the electrical inspection, the soil certificate, the planning information, the syndic's information and the costs of releasing mortgages.

  5. 5.Loan condition

    1. 5.1

      Optional

      The sale is made subject to the condition precedent that the buyer obtains financing of Loan amount euros, at the normal market rate, within Weeks to obtain the loan weeks of the signature of this agreement. The buyer will make every effort to obtain this financing.

      Keep both clauses of this section if you need a loan. Delete the section only if you pay from your own funds.

    2. 5.2

      Optional

      If the financing is refused, the buyer informs the notaries in writing within the same period and attaches proof of the refusal. The sale is then deemed never to have existed and the deposit is returned to the buyer. If no information is given within that period, the condition is deemed fulfilled.

      The last sentence protects the seller. If you are the buyer, diarise the deadline and apply to several banks early.

  6. 6.Notarial deed

    1. 6.1

      The notarial deed will be signed no later than Latest date for the notarial deed. Seller and buyer are jointly liable to the tax administration for paying the registration duties within the legal deadline.

      A deed within 4 months of today avoids registering this agreement separately.

    2. 6.2

      Each party may choose its notary freely. The seller appoints Maître Seller's notary and the buyer appoints Maître Buyer's notary.

  7. 7.Title, mortgages and easements

    1. 7.1

      The seller declares that he is the sole owner of the property under the deed Seller's title deed and has the right to sell it. He undertakes to deliver the property free of all debts, liens, charges and registered mortgages, using the sale price if necessary.

      Give the date and notary of the seller's purchase deed. The notary checks the mortgage register and pays the seller's lenders out of the price at the deed.

    2. 7.2

      The property is sold with its active and passive easements and its party walls. The title deed states the following easements and special conditions: Easements and special conditions.

      Copy the easements and special conditions from the title deed.

  8. 8.Ownership and occupation

    1. 8.1

      The buyer will become owner of the property when the notarial deed is signed. The risks pass at that time, and the seller keeps his fire insurance until that date.

    2. 8.2

      Optional

      The property will be free of any occupation and empty of any furniture not included in the sale on the day the notarial deed is signed. The seller will then hand over all the keys.

      Keep this clause for a vacant sale, or the next one for a let property. One of the two must stay.

    3. 8.3

      Optional

      The property is let: Current lease. The buyer has received a copy of the lease. If the lease is a nine-year main-residence lease, the sale is made subject to the condition that the tenant does not exercise the right of preference under articles 247/1 et seq. of the Brussels Housing Code.

      Add charges and registration reference. The tenant has 30 days from notification. A lease of up to 3 years has no such right unless it became a 9-year lease.

  9. 9.Condition and area

    1. 9.1

      The property is sold in its present condition, which the buyer declares he knows. The seller is not liable for visible defects. He is liable for hidden defects only if he knew of them and did not disclose them. The seller declares that he knows of no hidden defects.

      This exclusion does not protect a professional seller selling to a consumer: a business seller must guarantee hidden defects.

    2. 9.2

      Optional

      The stated area is not guaranteed. Any difference from the real area does not change the price.

      Delete this clause if you want the area guaranteed, and attach a surveyor's measurement.

  10. 10.Co-ownership

    1. 10.1

      Optional

      The buyer declares that he received, before signing this agreement, the co-ownership statutes, the internal rules and the syndic's letter of Date of the syndic's letter containing the information listed in article 3.94, § 1, of the Civil Code.

      Keep this section for a flat. Read the minutes of the last 3 general meetings for works already voted.

    2. 10.2

      Optional

      The buyer bears the ordinary common charges from the day he takes possession. Extraordinary charges whose payment the syndic requests before the notarial deed is signed remain payable by the seller.

  11. 11.Administrative and environmental situation

    1. 11.1

      Planning information: Planning information. The seller guarantees that the works he carried out comply with the permits and declares that he knows of no planning infringement.

      Give the letter's date, PRAS zone, lawful use and number of dwellings. An attic flat or extension without a permit is a common problem in Brussels.

    2. 11.2

      An energy performance certificate (PEB) no. PEB certificate number has been issued for the property, class PEB energy class. The buyer declares that he has received a copy.

    3. 11.3

      Electrical installation: Electrical inspection report. If the installation does not comply, the buyer will bring it into compliance within the period stated in the report and will inform the inspection body.

      State the date, body and "conforme" or "non conforme". The seller has the installation inspected and hands the report over at the deed. Price repairs first.

    4. 11.4

      The seller has given the buyer the soil certificate issued by Bruxelles Environnement on Date of the soil certificate, in accordance with the ordonnance of 5 March 2009 on the management and remediation of polluted soils.

      If the parcel is in category 0 (potentially polluted), a soil investigation is required before the sale.

    5. 11.5

      The seller will give the buyer, no later than the signature of the notarial deed, the post-intervention file for works carried out since 1 May 2001, and the certificates for any heating-oil tank.

  12. 12.Pre-emption and preference rights

    1. 12.1

      The seller declares that, to his knowledge, no statutory or contractual pre-emption or preference right affects the property, subject to what is stated above. The sale is made subject to the condition that no such right is exercised.

  13. 13.Tax

    1. 13.1

      The sale is subject to registration duties. The buyer declares that he has been informed of the conditions of the allowance available in the Brussels-Capital Region for the purchase of a main residence.

      The allowance requires, among other things, that the buyer owns no other whole dwelling, moves in within 3 years and stays at least 5 years.

  14. 14.Remedies

    1. 14.1

      If a party fails to meet its obligations, the other party gives it formal notice. If the obligations are not met within fifteen days, the other party may either seek enforcement or treat the sale as terminated by written notice.

    2. 14.2

      If the sale is terminated, the defaulting party pays the other a fixed indemnity of Penalty% of the price, plus any registration duties and costs relating to the sale.

      The seller can keep the deposit against this indemnity. Do not sign if you are not sure you can complete.

  15. 15.Signatures

    1. 15.1

      Made at Place of signature, on Date of signature, in Number of originals originals, each party acknowledging receipt of its own, one copy being for each notary. Signatures of the seller and the buyer.

      If the property is the seller's family home, the seller's spouse or legal cohabitant must also sign or give written consent.

Formalities

  1. A private signed document is valid. Electronic signature is possible.
  2. The notary or agent prepares one original for each party with a distinct interest, plus copies for the notaries.
  3. The buyer pays the deposit into the notary's escrow account, not to the seller. Each party may choose its own notary.
  4. Register the private agreement within 4 months, unless the notarial deed is signed in that period.
  5. In practice the deed is signed within 4 months and the notary registers it. Seller and buyer are jointly liable for the duties.
  6. Before signing, the seller gives the PEB, the soil certificate from Bruxelles Environnement, the planning information and, for a flat, the syndic's documents.
  7. If the home is let under a 9-year main-residence lease, the sale is deemed made on condition that the tenant does not use the right of preference.
  8. Under this template, ownership and risk pass at the signature of the notarial deed. The parties must agree this expressly.

Common mistakes

  • Signing an agent's standard compromis without a notary's review. Once signed it is a sale, and the notary can only execute what you agreed.
  • Paying the deposit to the seller or into the agent's account. Pay it into the notary's escrow account, which the seller's creditors cannot seize.
  • Writing a loan condition with no clear deadline and no rule for when you send no news. In the notaries' model, silence can mean the sale goes ahead.
  • Signing without the soil and energy certificates and the planning information. Gaps can hide pollution, an illegal extension or an unauthorised extra flat.
  • Missing the 4-month deadline. Late registration triggers fines on top of the duties, and both parties are jointly liable.
  • Buying a let home in Brussels without checking the tenant's right of preference. The tenant can take your place at the same price.
  • Underestimating the penalty clause. If you walk away, the seller can end the sale and claim the fixed indemnity set in the agreement.

Legal basis

Sources

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