Moving for your job: sell, let or keep your home

The choice mainly depends on how long you will be away and whether you want to come back. Set the options side by side:

• Sell: you no longer have worries about a home at a distance and you can use the proceeds for your new home. If you come back later, you buy again, with new purchase costs.
• Let: the rent can cover your loan and you keep your home. You do become a landlord, with the duties that come with it, even if you live far away.
• Leave it empty: gives the most freedom to return, but costs loan, insurance, energy and maintenance without income. Ask your municipality whether a vacancy levy applies.
• Let first and sell later: possible, but check in advance what that means for your registration duty and any capital gains tax.

If you bought your home at the reduced rate of
 % for the sole owner-occupied home, you must register there within 3 years after the deed. For sale agreements from 1 January 2026 you then remain registered there without interruption for at least 1 year (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, the Flemish Tax Administration). If you do not make that, you pay the difference with the standard rate of 1
 % on top, plus a tax increase of 2
 % on that difference.

The page of the Vlaamse Belastingdienst mentions no exception for a move for your job. If you move shortly after a purchase, ask your notary or the Vlaamse Belastingdienst what that means for you, before you change your address.

If you buy a new home near your job in Flanders, the 2-year rule applies: whoever is still full owner of another home only gets the reduced rate if they sell it within 2 years after the deed of the new home (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). Letting your previous home instead of selling it then does not go together with
 %.

After the move you report your change of address within 8 working days at your new municipality (Vlaamse overheid, the Flemish government). If you move abroad, ask your municipality how you report your departure.

A built home that you sell within 5 years after the purchase falls under the capital gains tax, with your own home as the main exception (FOD Financiën, the federal tax authority). The rate is 16.
 % on the profit (notaris.be).

Your own home is exempt if, in the period immediately before the month of the sale, it was your own home without interruption for at least 12 months. Between those 12 months and the month of the sale there may be at most 6 more months in which the home was not in use (FOD Financiën).

Concretely: if you move and the home stands empty while you sell, you have up to 6 months of leeway. If you let it first and still sell within 5 years after your purchase, have it checked whether the exemption still applies. If you sell more than 5 years after your purchase, the capital gains tax on a built home does not come into play.

For lease agreements from 1 January 2019 the Flemish Residential Lease Decree (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet) applies. The standard term is 9 years. A short-term lease agreement, for at most 3 years, can be extended once in writing without the total term exceeding 3 years, and ends if one of the two parties gives notice at least 3 months before the end (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet).

If you want to come back yourself during a 9-year lease, you can give notice at any time to live there yourself, with a notice period of 6 months, unless you excluded that in the contract. You then have to move in within a year and live there for at least 2 years, otherwise the tenant is entitled to compensation of 18 months’ rent. With a short-term lease that early termination to live there yourself does not exist (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet).

A rental deposit is at most 3 months’ rent. Registering the lease agreement and the inventory of fixtures is your task as landlord (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet). For an advert to let you also need an EPC (energy performance certificate), with the label in the advert (Vlaamse overheid).

You declare rental income in your tax return; how, depends on who your tenant is (FOD Financiën). Also ask your bank whether your loan says anything about letting, and let your fire insurer know that you no longer live there yourself.

Selling from a distance mainly requires good agreements. Who has a key, who shows the home, who makes sure it looks well kept? A family member or a neighbour can do the viewings; agree how you answer questions from buyers and how you receive bids.

At Hoobler you publish on hoobler.be and Zimmo for one fixed price, and afterwards you see viewings, questions and bids in one overview, wherever you are. You share your dossier with the notary, so that your documents do not have to go round by post.

Signing can be done remotely. From home, or from another place, via your own computer you give an authentic digital power of attorney to a member of the notary’s staff, who signs the deed for you; the notary explains the deed via video conference. You can also give a power of attorney to a trusted person who signs at the notary’s office (notaris.be). Ask your notary in advance whether that is also possible from the country where you are going to live.

Plan your sale around your departure date and start with what has to happen on site. In a free sale dossier at Hoobler you see which documents your home needs; Hoobler already retrieves what it can, such as the land registry data, the planning information and the regional zoning plan (gewestplan). EPC, asbestos certificate and electrical inspection you order there via partner De Immowinkel, at their rate.

• EPC: needed before you put the home up for sale, and the label belongs in your advert (Vlaamse overheid). The energy expert has to come inside, so arrange it while you are still there.
• Asbestos certificate (asbestattest): compulsory for a home from before 2001; the buyer receives it at the sale agreement (OVAM, the Flemish waste and soil agency). For this too an expert comes on site.
• Electrical inspection: with the report for the buyer (Vlaamse overheid).
• Soil certificate (bodemattest): apply before the sale agreement; it arrives within 14 calendar days, or within 60 if OVAM already has data on the land (OVAM).
• Photos: take them while the home is still furnished and well kept. Hoobler helps you make them strong.
• Keys and agreements: who shows the home, who reads the meters, who is the contact person for the notary.

The sale itself proceeds the same: the home is in Belgium, so the Belgian rules and a notary here apply. Signing can be done with a digital power of attorney.

For your taxes something does change. Whoever lives abroad and still has income from Belgium may have to deal with the non-resident tax (FOD Financiën). How that works out for you depends on your situation and on the country where you are going to live. Have it checked by your notary or an accountant, before you decide to let or sell.

If you repay your loan on the sale, the bank can charge a reinvestment fee of at most three months’ interest on the amount you repay early (Wikifin, February 2026).

This guide follows the Flemish rules for registration duty, leases and certificates. In Brussels and Wallonia other rules apply. The capital gains tax is federal and applies throughout Belgium.

Can you sell your house if you live abroad?

Yes. Via video conference you give a digital power of attorney to a member of the notary’s staff, or a power of attorney to a trusted person, who signs the deed for you (notaris.be). Ask your notary in advance whether that is possible from your country.

Do you have to pay extra registration duty if you move for your job?

If you bought at
 % and did not register within 3 years after the deed, or with a sale agreement from 2026 did not stay registered for a year without interruption, you pay the difference with 1
 % on top, plus 2
 % tax increase (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). The official page mentions no exception for a move for your job; ask your notary for advice.

Do you pay capital gains tax if you sell your house within 5 years?

Not if it was your own home without interruption for at least 12 months immediately before the sale, with at most 6 months of vacancy between that period and the month of the sale (FOD Financiën). Otherwise you pay 16.
 % on the profit (notaris.be).

Can you give your tenant notice if you come back?

With a 9-year lease agreement yes, to live there yourself, with 6 months’ notice, unless the contract excludes that. With a short-term lease, at most 3 years, that is not possible earlier: it ends with notice of at least 3 months before the end (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet).

Is letting or selling better if you go away for a few years?

That depends on how sure you are of coming back, on what the rent yields compared with your loan and costs, and on your registration duty and a possible capital gains tax. Set the figures side by side and have the tax side checked before you decide.

• notaris.be, Signing your deed remotely
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Reduced rate for the purchase of the sole owner-occupied home
• FOD Financiën, Explanatory notes to part 2 of the personal income tax return, assessment year 2026 (capital gains on buildings)
• notaris.be, Capital gains tax
• Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet (Codex Vlaanderen)
• FOD Financiën, Rental income
• FOD Financiën, Non-resident tax
• Vlaamse overheid, Energy performance certificate (EPC) for sale or rent of a dwelling (in English)
• Vlaamse overheid, Selling a house
• OVAM, How do I apply for a soil certificate?
• OVAM, Frequently asked questions about the asbestos certificate
• Vlaamse overheid, Reporting a change of address (in English)
• Wikifin, What is a reinvestment fee? (February 2026)

Last checked on 28 October 2026.