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Preliminary sale agreement template for Luxembourg

Preliminary sale agreementCompromis de vente

The private contract by which the seller agrees to sell and the buyer agrees to buy a property at a fixed price. In Luxembourg a signed compromis is a final sale between the parties. It usually carries a loan condition and a penalty clause, and the notarial deed follows within a few months.

Use it once seller and buyer agree on the property and the price and before the notarial deed. An estate agent or a notary often prepares it. Use this template to check their draft or as a base for a private sale, and have a notary read it before anyone signs. A signed compromis cannot be undone on second thoughts, so finish your checks first (see the due diligence checklist).

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 sale of a home under construction (vente en l'état futur d'achèvement) follows other rules.
Binding effect
Agreement on the property and the price is a sale (Code civil art. 1589). A signed compromis is final.
Cooling-off period
None. A party can step away only under a condition written into the compromis.
Loan condition period
Free to agree. At least 4 to 6 weeks in practice, extendable with a bank letter that the file is in progress.
Penalty clause
Usually 10% of the price, due by the party who refuses to sign the deed without a right to do so.
Registration of the compromis
Within 3 months 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 and 1% transcription.
Bëllegen Akt tax credit
Deducted from the duties. Up to 40,000 euros per buyer for an owner-occupied home.
Transfer of ownership
On signature of the compromis, unless a clause defers it to the deed. The deferral protects the seller's Bëllegen Akt occupation period.
Agent's commission
Usually 3% of the price plus VAT, paid by the party who gave the agent the mandate, usually the seller.
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 (loi du 21.09.2006, art. 12, paragraphs 3 and 6).

The document

Text shown

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

Preliminary sale agreement

  1. 1.Parties

    1. 1.1

      Between Seller, hereinafter "the seller",

      Give each owner's full name, date and place of birth, marital status and address. For a company: name, legal form, RCS number, seat and signatory.

    2. 1.2

      and Buyer, hereinafter "the buyer", acting jointly and severally if there are several,

      Give the same details for each buyer. Both parties must have the legal capacity to sell and to buy.

    3. 1.3

      the following has been agreed: the seller sells to the buyer, who accepts, the property described below, on the following terms.

      A spouse must consent to the sale of the family home (Code civil art. 215). Ask the notary who signs when an owner is married or in a registered partnership.

  2. 2.Description of the property

    1. 2.1

      A property located at Address of the property, registered in the cadastre as follows: Cadastral reference, consisting of Description.

      Copy the commune, section, parcel number and area from the cadastre extract. Describe the type, rooms, floor, parking, cellar and garden.

    2. 2.2

      Optional

      The property is part of a building under the co-ownership regime and comprises the following lots, with their shares in the common parts: Co-ownership lots and shares.

      Keep for a flat or any lot in a co-ownership building. Delete for a detached house. Take the lots and thousandths from the deed of division.

    3. 2.3

      The seller declares that the seller owns the property under Seller's title.

      The notary checks the title chain and the mortgage register before the deed.

  3. 3.Price and payment

    1. 3.1

      The sale is agreed at the price of Price in euros, in figures euros (Price in words euros), payable by transfer to the account of the notary handling the deed no later than the signature of the authentic deed.

    2. 3.2

      Optional

      The buyer pays a deposit of Deposit euros into the notary's account no later than Date by which the deposit is paid. The deposit is credited against the price. It is returned to the buyer if a condition precedent fails through no fault of the buyer.

      The law sets no deposit. If you agree one, pay it into the notary's account, not to the seller or the agent.

  4. 4.Loan condition precedent

    1. 4.1

      Optional

      This sale is made subject to the condition precedent that the buyer obtains a loan of up to Maximum loan amount euros, at a maximum rate of Maximum interest rate%, over a maximum term of Maximum loan term years, from a credit institution of the buyer's choice.

      Keep this clause and the next one if you need a loan. Delete both only if you pay from your own funds.

    2. 4.2

      Optional

      The buyer undertakes to file a complete loan application without delay and to notify the seller, no later than Date to send the bank's answer, of the bank's written approval or refusal. This period may be extended on presentation of a letter from the bank confirming that the application is being processed. If no notification is made within this period, the seller may treat the sale as lapsed or demand its performance.

      In a dispute the buyer must prove a timely application to at least one bank and a timely notice to the seller. Keep the bank's letters.

  5. 5.Other conditions precedent

    1. 5.1

      Optional

      The sale is also subject to the following condition precedent: Other condition precedent, to be met no later than Deadline for the other condition.

      Use it for a building permit, a planning check or the sale of your current home. Each condition needs a deadline.

    2. 5.2

      The sale is subject to the condition that the property is not encumbered by any mortgage or lien that cannot be cleared with the price, and that no statutory pre-emption right is exercised.

  6. 6.Condition of the property, easements and energy performance

    1. 6.1

      The buyer takes the property in its current condition, which the buyer declares to know well after visiting it. The seller declares no knowledge of any hidden defect or of any easement other than those arising from the law or the title deeds.

      Write any defect the seller discloses into this agreement, so the price reflects it.

    2. 6.2

      The seller will give the buyer the original of a valid energy performance certificate. Energy performance class and thermal insulation class: Energy performance and insulation class.

      A certificate is mandatory on a sale and is valid for 10 years. Copy the classes from it. The original goes to the new owner.

  7. 7.Occupation and co-ownership

    1. 7.1

      On the day of the authentic deed, the property will be: Occupation at the deed.

      If a tenant stays, describe the lease the buyer takes over. Ask for the lease, the rent history and the deposit, which passes to the buyer.

    2. 7.2

      Optional

      The co-ownership advance charges are currently Current monthly co-ownership advances euros per month. The seller bears the charges and the works voted by the general meeting before the signature of this agreement. The buyer bears those voted after it.

      Keep for a co-ownership building. Ask the managing agent (syndic) for the latest accounts and minutes before you sign.

  8. 8.Transfer of ownership and possession

    1. 8.1

      By way of derogation from article 1583 of the Civil Code, ownership of the property will pass on the day the authentic deed is signed. Possession will be given on the same day by handing over the keys.

      Without this clause, ownership passes when the compromis is signed. That can break the seller's 2-year occupation commitment under the Bëllegen Akt.

    2. 8.2

      Optional

      If the keys are not handed over on the agreed date, the seller will pay the buyer an occupation indemnity of Daily indemnity for late keys euros per day of delay.

  9. 9.Authentic deed and costs

    1. 9.1

      The authentic deed of sale will be executed before Maître Notary instructed for the deed, notary, no later than Latest date for the notarial deed. The costs and the registration and transcription duties of the deed are paid by the buyer.

    2. 9.2

      Optional

      The buyer declares the intention to occupy the property personally as a main home and intends to apply in the authentic deed for the tax credit on notarial deeds.

      Keep it if you will live there. The notary asks for it in the deed. Move in within 2 years (4 for land or a building under construction) and stay 2 years.

  10. 10.Agency commission

    1. 10.1

      Optional

      The sale was arranged through Estate agent and commission. The commission is paid by the party who gave the agent the mandate.

      Give the agency, who gave the mandate, the rate and who pays. The 50/50 split of agency fees applies to leases, not to sales.

  11. 11.Penalty clause

    1. 11.1

      If either party refuses to sign the authentic deed although all conditions precedent are met, that party will pay the other, as fixed damages, a sum equal to Penalty% of the sale price, without prejudice to the other party's right to seek enforcement of the sale.

      Guichet.lu reports 10% as common practice. Without a penalty clause the injured party must prove the actual loss.

  12. 12.Registration

    1. 12.1

      The parties agree that the buyer will present this compromis for registration, at the buyer's cost, within the legal period of three months.

      With a condition precedent the fee is a fixed 12 euros. Registration makes the compromis enforceable against third parties from the date of registration.

  13. 13.Signatures

    1. 13.1

      Made at Place of signature, on Date of signature, in Number of originals originals, each party acknowledging receipt of one. Signature of the seller and of the buyer, preceded by the words "read and approved".

      Make one original per party, plus one for registration if needed. Every owner and every buyer signs and initials each page.

Formalities

  1. Private signature (acte sous seing privé). Sign one original per party and initial every page.
  2. No notary is needed to sign it. Only a notarial deed transcribed at the mortgage office makes the sale binding on third parties.
  3. A non-professional must present the compromis for registration with the AED within 3 months of signature.
  4. The registration fee is a fixed 12 euros with a condition precedent, such as the loan condition. Without one, 7% of the price is due at registration.
  5. The notary applies for any Bëllegen Akt credit. The 7% duties at the deed are due minus that credit.

Common mistakes

  • Signing before your checks are done. Unlike in France, there is no cooling-off period, and the compromis is already a sale.
  • Leaving out the loan condition, or setting a period too short for the bank to answer. If the loan fails, you owe the penalty.
  • Applying for the loan late or to no bank. In a dispute you must prove that you applied in time and told the seller the bank's answer within the period.
  • Keeping the transfer of ownership at the compromis if the seller used the Bëllegen Akt less than 2 years ago. Add the clause that ownership passes at the deed.
  • Not registering the compromis. It stays valid, but you cannot rely on it against a third party to whom the seller sells the same property.
  • Paying the deposit straight to the seller. Pay it into the notary's account so that it is held until the deed.
  • Forgetting a sitting tenant. A tenant whose lease has run for at least 18 years can have a pre-emption right and must then get the offer to sell first.

Legal basis

Sources

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