Buyer's due diligence checklist for Luxembourg
Buyer's due diligence checklistListe de vérifications avant l'achat d'un bien immobilier
The documents and checks a buyer should get before signing a compromis de vente in Luxembourg: title and seller, cadastre and mortgages, planning and pollution, energy certificate, co-ownership accounts, any lease in place, and the duties and tax credit.
Use it from the first serious visit until you sign the compromis. A signed compromis is already a sale and has no cooling-off period. Anything you cannot check before signing should become a condition in the compromis.
Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.
Key facts
- Applies to
- Whole country. For an existing home. A home under construction needs extra checks.
- Binding point
- The signed compromis. There is no legal cooling-off period.
- Registration of the compromis
- Within 3 months of signature for a non-professional. 12 euros with a condition precedent, otherwise 7% of the price.
- Duties at the deed
- 7% of the price: 6% registration, 1% transcription.
- Bëllegen Akt
- Up to 40,000 euros per buyer. Move in within 2 years (4 for land or a building under construction) and live there for at least 2 years.
- Luxembourg City surcharge
- 50% of the registration duty on sales and other transfers between living persons in the city. Some houses are exempt.
- Energy performance certificate
- Mandatory on a sale, valid 10 years. The original goes to the buyer.
- Let property
- The buyer takes over the lease. To live there, the buyer sends a reasoned termination by registered letter within 3 months of the purchase.
- Buyer's termination
- 6 months' notice. The tenant must leave at the latest 12 months after the letter (art. 12, paragraphs 3 and 6).
- Rent cap on a let home
- Annual rent of at most 5% of the invested capital (loi du 21.09.2006, art. 3).
The checklist
Seller, title and capacity
Copy of the seller's title deedTitre de propriété (acte notarié d'acquisition)
It proves the seller owns the property and shows its legal description, easements and the conditions of the previous sale.
Identity of every owner and their marital or partnership statusPièce d'identité, régime matrimonial
Every owner must sign the compromis and the deed. The notary checks who must consent to the sale.
For a company seller, its trade register extract and the signatory's powersExtrait du Registre de commerce et des sociétés (RCS)
It shows that the company exists and who may sign for it.
Cadastre, mortgages and easements
Cadastre extract and plan of the parcelExtrait et plan cadastral
Mortgage and charges search, ordered by the notaryCertificat hypothécaire (bureau des hypothèques)
Easements and rights of wayServitudes
A right of way, a view or a shared wall limits how you can use or change the property. Ask the seller and read the title deed.
Planning, permits and land
Zoning of the parcel in the commune's general and local plansPlan d'aménagement général (PAG) et plan d'aménagement particulier (PAP)
They set what you may build or change. Ask the commune's technical service, especially before buying land or planning an extension.
Building permits for the house and any later worksAutorisation de bâtir
Work done without a permit can cause trouble with the commune and when you sell.
Statutory pre-emption rights of the State, the commune or other public bodiesDroit de préemption légal (Pacte logement)
Register of potentially polluted sites. Ask the Administration de l'environnement by email ([email protected]).Cadastre des sites potentiellement contaminés (CASIPO)
Building and energy
Valid energy performance certificateCertificat de performance énergétique (CPE, Energiepass)
Condition of the roof, heating, windows, damp and electricsExpertise technique
The buyer takes the property as it is. An independent building expert can price the work before you agree the price.
Co-ownership (flats)
Co-ownership rules and the deed of divisionRèglement de copropriété, acte de base
They define your lots, your shares in the common parts and the rules on use, pets and letting.
Last approved annual accounts and the minutes of the last general meetingsDécomptes annuels, procès-verbaux des assemblées générales
They show the real charges, unpaid sums, disputes and the works already voted.
Statement from the managing agent on the seller's account and the works fundSituation du compte du vendeur auprès du syndic
It shows arrears and any reserve fund, so the compromis can say who pays what.
Occupation and leases
The lease, the last rent increase and the deposit, if a tenant staysContrat de bail, garantie locative
Length of the current leaseDroit de préemption du locataire
A tenant whose lease has run for at least 18 years can have a right to buy first.
Proof that a former tenant has left, for vacant possessionRésiliation du bail, état des lieux de sortie
A tenant whose lease was not ended on a legal ground keeps the right to stay.
Money and taxes
Estimate of duties and notary's fees from the notaryDroits d'enregistrement et de transcription, frais d'acte
The duties are 7% of the price. In Luxembourg City a municipal surcharge applies to some transfers.
Your remaining Bëllegen Akt balance and eligibilityCrédit d'impôt sur les actes notariés
Bank's offer in principle, before you signAccord de principe bancaire
The loan condition period in the compromis is short, often 4 to 6 weeks. Start the file early.
Formalities
The notary runs the official searches before the deed, but the compromis de vente binds you earlier. Do these checks before you sign it, or make the open points conditions in it.
- No formality applies to the checklist itself.
- Ask the seller or the agent for the documents in writing.
- You can consult the cadastre online through MyGuichet.lu.
- The notary orders the mortgage certificate and checks title and pre-emption rights before the deed.
- Ask the commune for planning information.
- Ask the managing agent (syndic) for the co-ownership documents.
Common mistakes
- Signing the compromis to secure the property and checking later. It is already a sale. Later checks help only if a condition lets you step away.
- Relying on the area in the listing. Compare it with the cadastre extract and, for a flat, with the deed of division of the co-ownership.
- Missing an extension or a converted attic built without a permit. Ask the commune for the building permits and compare them with what you visited.
- Ignoring works the co-owners already voted. Agree in the compromis who pays them.
- Buying a let home to live in and missing the 3-month window to send the termination letter. You then lose the 12-month limit on the tenant's stay.
- Counting on the Bëllegen Akt when you will let the home or when you have used the credit before. Check your remaining balance on MyGuichet.lu.
- Forgetting to budget the duties. Without the tax credit, 7% of the price is due at the deed, on top of the notary's fees.
- Not asking the notary whether the Luxembourg City surcharge applies to your purchase.
Legal basis
- Code civil, art. 1583 and 1589 (sale formed by agreement on the thing and the price)
- Loi modifiée du 21 septembre 2006 sur le bail à usage d'habitation, art. 3 (rent cap), art. 12, paragraphs 5 and 6 (buyer of a let home), art. 15 (tenant's pre-emption right)
- Loi modifiée du 22 octobre 2008 portant promotion de l'habitat et création d'un pacte logement avec les communes (Pacte logement), art. 3 (statutory pre-emption rights of the communes, the Fonds du logement and the State on land in certain zones)
- Ville de Luxembourg, Règlement-taxe (juillet 2019), chapitre A-5, art. 1 and 2 (municipal surcharge on registration duties and exemptions)
Sources
- Connaître le contenu et la valeur juridique d'un compromis de vente
- Crédit d'impôt sur les actes notariés ("Bëllegen Akt")
- Faire établir un certificat de performance énergétique (Energiepass) pour un bâtiment d'habitation
- Surtaxe communale sur les mutations immobilières dans la Ville de Luxembourg
- La gestion des sites pollués
- FAQ Bail à loyer (vente du logement loué, loyer maximal)