On top of the price of a home come taxes, the notary and the costs of your loan. The largest part of that goes to the government, not to the notary. Here you find every cost with the 2026 rates, and an example that you can check yourself.
For your sole owner-occupied home in Flanders you pay % registration duty, otherwise 1 % (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, checked on 28 October 2026). With the fee and the costs of the notary, a home of € 50,000 costs about € ,437 on top of the price in 2026, and a loan of € 00,000 about € ,470 extra. The notarial profession estimates the purchase costs of a family home at an average of % of the price (notaris.be).
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How much registration duty do you pay in Flanders?
The registration duty, also called sales duty (verkooprecht), is the biggest cost when buying an existing home. You pay it via the notary to the Flemish government. These are the rates in 2026 (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, the Flemish Tax Administration):
% for the purchase of your sole owner-occupied home, for deeds from 1 January 2025.
An extra reduction of € ,867 if the price is not higher than € 20,000, or € 40,000 in the core cities and the municipalities of the Flemish periphery (Vlaamse Rand) around Brussels.
1 % for other homes, such as a second home or a home to let, and for building plots.
No registration duty but 2 % VAT for a new home. A home is new up to and including 31 December of the second year after the year in which it was first occupied.
The former extra reduced rate for those who committed to a major energy renovation no longer applies to sale agreements from 1 January 2025.
Part 2
Which conditions do you meet for %?
All conditions must be met, and they are assessed per buyer. If you later fail to meet a condition, you pay the difference with 1 % on top, plus a tax increase of 2 % on that difference. A reminder letter from the Vlaamse Belastingdienst is not a legal obligation, so you cannot derive any rights from it (Vlaamse Belastingdienst).
These are the conditions:
You buy as a natural person. For sale agreements from 2026 nobody gets % if a company buys along.
You buy the full ownership, with an ordinary purchase against a price.
It is a home, not a building plot. A garage or garden that you buy together with the home can be included under conditions.
You are not full and sole owner of another home or building plot, in Belgium or abroad. If you do have one, you commit to selling it within 2 years after the deed.
You register at the address within 3 years after the deed, and for sale agreements from 2026 you remain registered there without interruption for at least 1 year.
Part 3
What do you pay the notary on the purchase?
The notary’s fee is fixed by law in the tariff decree (Tariefbesluit) and is the same at every notary. It decreases in brackets as the price rises. For the purchase of your sole owner-occupied home a reduced scale applies, if you go to live there within a year after the deed and own no other property (Tariefbesluit, version of 9 February 2026).
In addition the notary charges fixed administrative costs: in 2026 € 55 excluding VAT for the purchase deed, and € 27 for a loan deed executed together with the purchase deed (Tariefbesluit, version of 9 February 2026).
The expenses to third parties, such as the planning information, differ per municipality and per file. On the fee, the administrative costs, the expenses to third parties and the stamp duty on documents you pay 2 % VAT, on the registration duty not (notaris.be).
If buyer and seller each choose a notary, they share the fee, so you do not pay more (notaris.be). Of all additional costs, according to the notarial profession only 1 % goes to the notary themselves; the rest is mainly taxes (notaris.be).
Part 4
What does the loan deed for your loan cost?
If you borrow with a mortgage, you sign a second deed at the notary, the loan deed.
Some banks accept that part of the loan is secured with a mortgage mandate (hypothecaire volmacht), also called mortgage power of attorney. The bank then only takes a mortgage when it deems that necessary. That costs less, but the bank has less security, so it decides itself whether that is possible (notaris.be).
On the loan deed you pay (Vlaamse Belastingdienst; notaris.be; Tariefbesluit 2026):
% registration duty on the amount the mortgage secures: your loan plus an amount for interest and costs, usually 5 or 1 % at banks.
0. % mortgage duty on the same amount, plus a fee for the registration of the mortgage.
The notary’s fee, also with a reduced scale if you borrow for your sole owner-occupied home.
€ 27 administrative costs if the loan deed is executed together with the purchase deed, plus VAT on the fee and those costs.
Part 5
How much does a home of € 50,000 cost on top of the price?
An example for 2026: you buy a home of € 50,000 in Flanders as your sole owner-occupied home and borrow € 00,000, with a security for € 20,000. The expenses to third parties and the transcription are estimates of the notarial profession; your notary makes the real statement.
Registration duty: % of € 50,000, so € ,000.
Fee for the purchase deed according to the reduced scale: about € ,172.
Administrative costs: € 55.
Expenses to third parties, transcription and stamp duty on documents: about € 89.
VAT of 2 %: about € 21. Together for the purchase: about € ,437.
Loan deed: € ,200 registration duty, € 60 mortgage duty, about € 03 fee, € 27 administrative costs and € 79 VAT. Together about € ,470, plus a few smaller fees.
All together about € 3,900 on top of the price, plus the file and valuation costs of your bank. In its 2025 fact sheet the notarial profession arrived at € ,370 for the same purchase without a loan; the difference lies in the 2026 rates (notaris.be). The calculator on notaris.be gives an estimate for your amount.
Part 6
Which costs come on top?
Besides the notary and the taxes, you had best also count on these costs:
File costs of the bank: at most € 50, and only due once you accept the loan offer (Wikifin, February 2026).
Valuation costs: the bank has the home valued, must communicate those costs in advance and only charges them once the valuation has taken place (Wikifin).
Insurances: the bank requires a fire insurance and usually asks for an outstanding balance insurance. You may take them out with another insurer (notaris.be).
Your share of the property tax (onroerende voorheffing) for the current year, which you repay to the seller at the deed (notaris.be).
With a flat: your share in the costs of the common parts, according to the deed and the co-ownership regulations (Wikifin).
Works: with a home with EPC label E or F you have to renovate to label D within 6 years (Vlaamse overheid, the Flemish government). For the renovation of a home older than 10 years, % VAT applies under conditions (FOD Financiën, the federal tax authority).
Part 7
What changes in 2027?
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 position 26021 of the Vlaamse Belastingdienst of 1 October 2026, the date of the sale agreement would count: a sale agreement from before 1 January 2027 can still get %, even if the deed follows in 2027. With a mutual promise to buy and sell, the date of the deed counts. For deeds after 30 April 2027 the Vlaamse Belastingdienst always asks for supporting documents, such as a paid deposit or a signed loan application.
On a home of € 50,000 it concerns € ,000 at % compared with € ,500 at %.
Part 8
What applies in Brussels and Wallonia?
The registration duty is regional. In Brussels the rate is 12. %, with an exemption on the first € 00,000 for those who buy their sole home there, a saving of € 5,000, if the price is not higher than € 00,000. In Wallonia you pay % for your sole owner-occupied home and otherwise 12. % (notarial profession, January 2025; Wikifin, June 2026).
The conditions differ from those in Flanders, for example how long you have to stay registered there. Ask your notary what applies in the region where you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
How much in costs do you pay when buying a house?
For a family home on average about % of the price, according to the notarial profession (notaris.be). For a home of € 50,000 as sole owner-occupied home in Flanders that is about € ,437 in 2026, without the costs of your loan.
What is the difference between registration duty and notary costs?
The registration duty is a tax for the Flemish government: % or 1 %. The notary costs are the fee, the administrative costs and the expenses to third parties, with VAT. The notary collects everything, but passes the taxes on to the government (notaris.be).
Is one notary more expensive than another?
No. The fee is fixed by law and is the same at every notary. If buyer and seller each choose a notary, they share the fee (notaris.be).
What does a mortgage cost at the notary?
% registration duty and 0. % mortgage duty on the secured amount, plus fee, administrative costs and VAT. For a loan of € 00,000 that is about € ,470 in 2026 (Vlaamse Belastingdienst; Tariefbesluit 2026).
When do you pay the registration duty?
Via the notary, who has to have the sale registered within 4 months after the sale agreement (Vlaamse overheid). With a suspensive condition those 4 months run from the moment the condition is fulfilled. You transfer the amount to the notary before the deed, together with the other costs (notaris.be).
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 you see the asking price and the EPC label with each home, so that you can estimate your costs right away. Save your search and you get an e-mail as soon as a suitable home comes online.