Buying your first home in Flanders: budget, costs and steps
Buying a first home is exciting, and a lot comes at you at once. With an honest budget and the right order you keep the overview. Here you read how much you put in yourself, what the purchase costs and how you get from the first viewing to the notary.
A bank in principle finances no more than 9 % of the value of the home, so you usually put in 1 % of the price and all purchase costs yourself (notaris.be, September 2026). For your sole owner-occupied home you pay % registration duty in Flanders instead of 1 %, with a € ,867 reduction if the price is not higher than € 20,000, or € 40,000 in the core cities and the Flemish periphery around Brussels (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, checked on 28 October 2026). For a home of € 00,000 with a loan of 9 %, in 2026 you therefore need well over € 6,000 of your own money.
What is your home worth?
First see what your home is worth. Then start preparing early and without obligation: free, for as long as you like.
How much of your own money do you need for your first home?
The bank looks at two things: what the home is worth and what you can carry each month. As a general rule a bank in principle finances no more than 9 % of the value of the home. In certain cases it can be more, up to 10 % or exceptionally even more, but banks only have a limited margin for that (notaris.be, September 2026).
That limit follows from the expectations of the National Bank. For a home you occupy yourself, the threshold is 9 % of the value. Banks may allow part of their new loans above that, and for first-time buyers that part is larger than for other buyers (Nationale Bank van België, the National Bank of Belgium). Whether you qualify for that, your bank decides.
On top of your share of the price you pay the costs of the purchase and of your loan yourself. Wikifin recommends not putting all your savings into the purchase and keeping a reserve for works, certainly with a home that is not new (Wikifin, June 2026).
Part 2
What does the purchase cost on top of the price?
The biggest cost is the registration duty, also called sales duty (verkooprecht). For the purchase of your sole owner-occupied home you pay % in Flanders since 1 January 2025, instead of the standard rate of 1 % (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, the Flemish Tax Administration).
If the home costs no more than € 20,000, or € 40,000 in a core city or a municipality of the Flemish periphery (Vlaamse Rand) around Brussels, another € ,867 comes off for a modest home (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). For a home of € 00,000 you then pay € ,133 instead of € ,000. Your notary knows whether your municipality is on that list.
In addition you pay the notary. The fee is fixed by law and is the same at every notary, and for your sole owner-occupied home a reduced scale applies (Tariefbesluit, the notaries’ tariff decree, version of 9 February 2026). If you choose your own notary alongside the seller’s, they share the fee and you do not pay more (notaris.be).
A simplified example for 2026: you buy a home of € 00,000 as your sole owner-occupied home and borrow 9 %, so € 70,000. Smaller items such as the expenses to third parties are estimates of the notarial profession; your notary makes the real statement.
Registration duty: % of € 00,000, so € ,000.
Purchase deed: about € ,322 fee, € 55 administrative costs, about € 89 for expenses to third parties, transcription and stamp duty on documents, and € 52 VAT. Together about € ,618.
Loan deed: % registration duty and 0. % mortgage duty on € 97,000, your loan plus 1 % for interest and costs, together € ,861. With fee, administrative costs and VAT you arrive at about € ,590.
Own contribution: € 0,000 of the price plus about € 6,208 in costs, together well over € 6,000, still without the file and valuation costs of your bank.
Part 3
How does the bank assess your loan?
The bank does not only look at your own contribution, but at your whole financial situation: what you earn, which fixed costs and other loans you have, and what you have left each month after the repayment. It may not grant a loan if it is clear that the repayment would put you in serious financial difficulties (notaris.be, September 2026).
If you work part-time, have a temporary contract or your income fluctuates, you can still get a home loan. The bank may ask for extra documents, such as a statement from your employer. Your career overview from MyCareer, the online service of the social security, you can give to the bank as a pdf (notaris.be, September 2026).
Ask for quotes from more than one bank and read the repayment table: there you see per month how much capital and interest you pay, and how much interest in total (Wikifin, June 2026). The bank may charge at most € 50 in file costs, and only once you accept the loan offer. The costs of the valuation of the home it must communicate in advance (Wikifin, February 2026).
The bank requires a fire insurance and usually asks for an outstanding balance insurance, which repays your loan if you die. You do not have to take out those insurances with the same bank (notaris.be). A housing bonus (woonbonus) you no longer get: it only applied to loans from before 2020 (Vlaamse Belastingdienst).
Part 4
What help exists for first-time buyers?
If you have a modest income, first check whether you can get a Flemish housing loan (Vlaamse woonlening) at the Flemish Housing Fund (Vlaams Woningfonds). The home must be in Flanders, the sale value and your indexed income may not exceed a maximum, and a condition on other property applies. The amounts and the interest rate you find at the Vlaams Woningfonds (Vlaamse overheid, the Flemish government). Wikifin recommends checking that before you take out an ordinary loan.
The guaranteed housing insurance (verzekering gewaarborgd wonen) is free. If you suddenly become unemployed or unable to work, after a waiting period of three months you receive a contribution to your repayment, for a maximum of three years. You apply for it at the Vlaams Woningfonds within the year after the bank makes the money available to you, and you are then insured for ten years (Vlaamse overheid).
If your parents help with a gift, know that a gift to a child is legally an advance on the inheritance and is set off later. Notaries recommend being open about that towards all children (notaris.be, March 2026).
Part 5
How does the purchase proceed from viewing to deed?
In the showroom on hoobler.be owners sell their home themselves. Your question, your viewing request and your bid go directly to the owner, and you can request the dossier with documents such as the EPC (energy performance certificate) before you decide.
Wherever you search, this is the order the notarial profession recommends, with the deadlines that go with it:
Before you search: ask one or more banks how much you can borrow and under which conditions (notaris.be).
Viewing: preferably go and look more than once, if possible with someone who knows about it. Ask about the EPC, the electrical installation and whether the home is in a flood-prone area (Vlaamse overheid).
Bid: in writing, with an end date and a suspensive condition for your loan. If the seller accepts your bid, the sale is concluded (notaris.be).
Sale agreement (compromis): you sign the sale agreement and usually pay a deposit of 1 % into the notary’s third-party account, never directly to the seller (notaris.be).
Loan: your loan must be settled within the period of the suspensive condition, in practice often four weeks (notaris.be).
Searches: the notary checks among others the planning status and the mortgages on the home, and whoever has a right of first refusal gets two months to respond (notaris.be, March 2026).
Deed: the sale must be registered within 4 months after the sale agreement (Vlaamse overheid), so the deed usually follows within that period. You pay the rest of the price and the costs, and you receive the keys.
Part 6
What do you watch out for after the deed?
Register at the address of your new home within 3 years after the deed, and for a sale agreement from 2026 remain registered there without interruption for at least 1 year. If you do not, you pay the difference with the rate of 1 % on top, plus a tax increase of 2 % on that difference (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). On a home of € 00,000 that is € 0,000 plus € ,000.
For the reduced fee of the notary a shorter deadline applies: you settle in the home within a year after the deed, otherwise you pay the difference with the standard fee (Tariefbesluit, version of 9 February 2026).
If the home has EPC label E or F, you have to renovate it to at least label D within 6 years after the deed (Vlaamse overheid). Include that in your budget before you bid.
A home insurance is not legally required, but strongly recommended, and your bank can impose it (Wikifin). Also report your change of address in time, and inform your suppliers of electricity, gas, water and internet (Vlaamse overheid).
Part 7
What changes in 2027 for buyers?
The Flemish Government wants to raise the rate for the sole owner-occupied home from % to % from 1 January 2027. That has been announced, not yet decided: there is no decree yet (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, checked on 28 October 2026).
According to the Vlaamse Belastingdienst the date of the sale agreement would count. A sale agreement from before 1 January 2027 can then still get %, even if the deed follows in 2027 (position 26021, 1 October 2026). On a home of € 00,000 it concerns € ,000. Weigh that difference against the time you need to find the right home.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
How much do you have to put in yourself to buy a house?
In principle 1 % of the value plus all purchase costs, because as a general rule a bank finances no more than 9 % of the value (notaris.be, September 2026). For a home of € 00,000 as sole owner-occupied home in Flanders that is well over € 6,000 in 2026.
How much registration duty do you pay for your first home?
In Flanders % if it is your sole owner-occupied home and you meet all conditions, otherwise 1 %. If the home costs no more than € 20,000, or € 40,000 in a core city or the Flemish periphery, another € ,867 comes off (Vlaamse Belastingdienst).
Can you borrow 10 % for a house?
Sometimes. A bank can in certain cases finance 10 % or exceptionally more, but only has a limited margin for that (notaris.be, September 2026). It depends on your situation and on the lending policy of your bank.
What is the guaranteed housing insurance?
A free insurance of the Flemish government that helps carry your repayment in case of sudden unemployment or inability to work, for a maximum of three years after a waiting period of three months. You apply for it within the year after the bank makes the money available (Vlaamse overheid).
How long does it take from bid to keys?
After the sale agreement usually a few months follow for the notary’s searches and your loan (notaris.be, March 2026). The sale must be registered within 4 months after the sale agreement, so the deed and the keys usually follow within that period.
Do you pay % registration duty from 2027?
That has been announced, but not yet decided. According to the Vlaamse Belastingdienst a sale agreement from before 1 January 2027 would still get %, subject to the decree (position 26021, 1 October 2026).
In the showroom on hoobler.be owners sell their home themselves. You ask your questions and plan your viewing directly with them. Save your search and you get an e-mail as soon as a home comes online that fits.