Purchasing a pre-construction property

The legislation has special provisions for the sale of pre-construction buildings, as opposed to already-constructed buildings. To protect the future buyer, there are specific rules and formalities that need to be followed.

Who is concerned

  • potential buyers of a pre-construction building;
  • professional property developers selling pre-construction buildings.

How to proceed

Types of pre-construction building sales

The sale of a pre-construction building is defined as a sale where the seller undertakes to erect a building within a period of time specified in an agreement.

There are 2 types of pre-construction sales:

  • forward sales, in which the seller undertakes to deliver a building upon its completion to a buyer, who in turn undertakes to accept delivery of the building and pay the agreed price on that date. As such, it is only at the time of completion that ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer;
  • future-completion sales, in which the seller immediately transfers to the buyer their rights to the land and, where applicable, ownership of existing constructions. The buyer becomes the owner gradually as the construction progresses and pays in tranches as the work moves forward.

Scope of application of the legislation on the sale of pre-construction buildings

In order to fall under the specific legal provisions on the sale of pre-construction buildings, an agreement must satisfy 3 conditions:

  • the building must be for residential or residential and professional purposes;
  • the seller must have secured powers as project owner;
  • the sale must be effected in consideration for payments or deposits of funds to be made before construction is completed;

Reserving a pre-construction building

As with the ordinary sale of a building, the sale of a pre-construction building may be preceded by a preliminary agreement, known as a reservation agreement. Unlike in an ordinary sale, a contract of sale agreement is not necessary to reserve the object before the notarial deed of sale has been signed;

The reservation agreement creates obligations for each of the parties to the contract. Indeed, as consideration for a security deposit paid into an account opened in the name of the reserving party— i.e., the buyer, the contract beneficiary—the seller—i.e., the party making the reservation—undertakes to reserve the building or a portion of the building for the buyer. The amount of the security deposit may not exceed 2 % of the provisional price.

The funds will then be unavailable until the sales agreement has been signed. The funds are repaid to the depositor if:

  • the final contract is not concluded as a result of the seller's fault within a period provided for in the preliminary contract; or
  • the proposed contract shows a significant difference from the preliminary contract (e.g. the final sales price is more than 5% higher than initially anticipated or one of the planned items of equipment has not been carried out).
The reserving party is never required to purchase the building. If they do purchase it, the security deposit will be returned, since they will pay the agreed price. If they abandon the purchase, the deposit will be allocated as compensation to the party that made the reservation.

Information that must be included in a sales agreement for a pre-construction building

Sales agreements for pre-construction buildings can only be concluded if the authorisations required for the projected construction have been issued by the competent administrations.

They must be concluded by notarial deed and contain the following information, failing which they will be deemed null and void:

  • the identity of the owner of the land and the constructions;
  • the date of issue of the administrative authorisations and the terms and conditions under which they are granted;
  • a description of the building or part of the building being sold, and the degree of completion agreed upon;
  • the price and payment conditions;
  • deadline for delivery of the building;
  • for future-completion sales, a guarantee of full completion of the building.
Caution: in the event of an increase in the index, the property developer may apply a 2.5% increase to the total payment instalments for the building under construction. As a consequence, the sales price will go up.

However, the contract must clearly state whether or not the price is revisable and, if so, the terms of its revision.


The purchaser has, however, the right to terminate a contract where such a clause leads to a final price much higher than they expected at the time of conclusion of the contract.

Documents to be attached to the sales agreement

On pain of nullity, contracts for the sale of property to be built must also include the following annexes:

  • construction plans with facades, the plans for the various levels of the building, and a sectional plan of the building;
  • a description indicating the contents and technical features of the building, as well as the materials to be used;
  • in the case of condominium construction, the condominium by-laws.

The nullity of the contract may be invoked only by the purchaser and before completion of the building work.

End of construction work

The building is considered completed when the structures have been built and the fixtures/features that are essential for the use of the building have been installed.

Completion of a building sold under a forward agreement is confirmed by the parties or by a qualified person. The confirmation is formalised in a notarial deed produced by the same notary with whom the original deed of forward sale was filed.

Forms / Online services

Tax credit on notarial deeds

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To complete your application, the information about you collected from this form needs to be processed by the public administration concerned.

That information is kept by the administration in question for as long as it is required to achieve the purpose of the processing operation(s).

Your data will be shared with other public administrations that are necessary for the processing of your application. For details on which departments will have access to the data on this form, please contact the public administration you are filing your application with.

Under the terms of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, you have the right to access, rectify or, where applicable, remove any information relating to you. You are also entitled to withdraw your consent at any time.

Additionally, unless the processing of your personal data is compulsory, you may, with legitimate reasons, oppose the processing of such data.

If you wish to exercise these rights and/or obtain a record of the information held about you, please contact the administration in question using the contact details provided on the form. You are also entitled to file a claim with the National Commission for Data Protection (Commission nationale pour la protection des données), headquartered at 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux.

By submitting your application, you agree that your personal data may be processed as part of the application process.

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Les informations qui vous concernent recueillies sur ce formulaire font l’objet d’un traitement par l’administration concernée afin de mener à bien votre demande.

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Les destinataires de vos données sont les administrations compétentes dans le cadre du traitement de votre demande. Veuillez-vous adresser à l’administration concernée par votre demande pour connaître les destinataires des données figurant sur ce formulaire. Conformément au règlement (UE) 2016/679 relatif à la protection des personnes physiques à l'égard du traitement des données à caractère personnel et à la libre circulation de ces données, vous bénéficiez d’un droit d’accès, de rectification et le cas échéant d’effacement des informations vous concernant. Vous disposez également du droit de retirer votre consentement à tout moment.

En outre et excepté le cas où le traitement de vos données présente un caractère obligatoire, vous pouvez, pour des motifs légitimes, vous y opposer.

Si vous souhaitez exercer ces droits et/ou obtenir communication de vos informations, veuillez-vous adresser à l’administration concernée suivant les coordonnées indiquées dans le formulaire. Vous avez également la possibilité d’introduire une réclamation auprès de la Commission nationale pour la protection des données ayant son siège à 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux.

En poursuivant votre démarche, vous acceptez que vos données personnelles soient traitées dans le cadre de votre demande.

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Weiterhin können Sie, außer in Fällen, in denen die Verarbeitung Ihrer Daten verpflichtend ist, Widerspruch einlegen, wenn dieser rechtmäßig begründet ist.

Wenn Sie diese Rechte ausüben und/oder Einsicht in Ihre Informationen nehmen möchten, können Sie sich unter den im Formular angegebenen Kontaktdaten an die zuständige Verwaltungsbehörde wenden. Sie haben außerdem die Möglichkeit, bei der Nationalen Kommission für den Datenschutz Beschwerde einzulegen (Commission nationale pour la protection des données, 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux).

Wenn Sie Ihren Vorgang fortsetzen, akzeptieren Sie damit, dass Ihre personenbezogenen Daten im Rahmen Ihres Antrags verarbeitet werden.

Land register

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To complete your application, the information about you collected from this form needs to be processed by the public administration concerned.

That information is kept by the administration in question for as long as it is required to achieve the purpose of the processing operation(s).

Your data will be shared with other public administrations that are necessary for the processing of your application. For details on which departments will have access to the data on this form, please contact the public administration you are filing your application with.

Under the terms of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, you have the right to access, rectify or, where applicable, remove any information relating to you. You are also entitled to withdraw your consent at any time.

Additionally, unless the processing of your personal data is compulsory, you may, with legitimate reasons, oppose the processing of such data.

If you wish to exercise these rights and/or obtain a record of the information held about you, please contact the administration in question using the contact details provided on the form. You are also entitled to file a claim with the National Commission for Data Protection (Commission nationale pour la protection des données), headquartered at 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux.

By submitting your application, you agree that your personal data may be processed as part of the application process.

Cadastre

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Les informations qui vous concernent recueillies sur ce formulaire font l’objet d’un traitement par l’administration concernée afin de mener à bien votre demande.

Ces informations sont conservées pour la durée nécessaire par l’administration à la réalisation de la finalité du traitement

Les destinataires de vos données sont les administrations compétentes dans le cadre du traitement de votre demande. Veuillez-vous adresser à l’administration concernée par votre demande pour connaître les destinataires des données figurant sur ce formulaire. Conformément au règlement (UE) 2016/679 relatif à la protection des personnes physiques à l'égard du traitement des données à caractère personnel et à la libre circulation de ces données, vous bénéficiez d’un droit d’accès, de rectification et le cas échéant d’effacement des informations vous concernant. Vous disposez également du droit de retirer votre consentement à tout moment.

En outre et excepté le cas où le traitement de vos données présente un caractère obligatoire, vous pouvez, pour des motifs légitimes, vous y opposer.

Si vous souhaitez exercer ces droits et/ou obtenir communication de vos informations, veuillez-vous adresser à l’administration concernée suivant les coordonnées indiquées dans le formulaire. Vous avez également la possibilité d’introduire une réclamation auprès de la Commission nationale pour la protection des données ayant son siège à 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux.

En poursuivant votre démarche, vous acceptez que vos données personnelles soient traitées dans le cadre de votre demande.

Kataster

Sehen Sie Ihre Eigentumsrechte (Parzellen und Sondereigentum) in Ihrem privaten Bereich ein.

Ihre in diesem Formular erfassten personenbezogenen Informationen werden von der zuständigen Verwaltungsbehörde verarbeitet, um Ihren Antrag erfolgreich abzuschließen.

Diese Informationen werden von der Behörde für den zur Verarbeitung erforderlichen Zeitraum gespeichert.

Die Empfänger Ihrer Daten sind die im Rahmen Ihres Antrags zuständigen Verwaltungsbehörden. Um die Empfänger der in diesem Formular erfassten Daten zu erfahren, wenden Sie sich bitte an die für Ihren Antrag zuständige Behörde.

Gemäß der Verordnung (EU) 2016/679 zum Schutz natürlicher Personen bei der Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten und zum freien Datenverkehr haben Sie das Recht auf Zugang, Berichtigung und gegebenenfalls Löschung Ihrer personenbezogenen Informationen. Sie haben zudem das Recht, Ihre erteilte Einwilligung jederzeit zu widerrufen.

Weiterhin können Sie, außer in Fällen, in denen die Verarbeitung Ihrer Daten verpflichtend ist, Widerspruch einlegen, wenn dieser rechtmäßig begründet ist.

Wenn Sie diese Rechte ausüben und/oder Einsicht in Ihre Informationen nehmen möchten, können Sie sich unter den im Formular angegebenen Kontaktdaten an die zuständige Verwaltungsbehörde wenden. Sie haben außerdem die Möglichkeit, bei der Nationalen Kommission für den Datenschutz Beschwerde einzulegen (Commission nationale pour la protection des données, 15, boulevard du Jazz L-4370 Belvaux).

Wenn Sie Ihren Vorgang fortsetzen, akzeptieren Sie damit, dass Ihre personenbezogenen Daten im Rahmen Ihres Antrags verarbeitet werden.

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