Moving in together with two homes in Flanders: sell, let or keep

Which choice fits depends on your plans, your loans and how sure you are of the future. That last one sounds harsh, but it counts: whoever sells their home to move into the other's has, as a de facto cohabitant, little protection if things go wrong or if the other dies.

Roughly there are three scenarios, and each can turn out differently for one home than for the other:

• One of you moves in with the other, and the second home is sold, let or kept for the time being.
• You both sell and buy a new home together.
• You buy something new together and keep one or both homes, for example to let.

Legally the home remains the property of whoever is in the deed. How well the other partner is protected depends on your status (notaris.be):

• De facto cohabiting: no legal protection. If you separate, the partner who is not owner has no right to stay. If the owner dies, the other partner inherits nothing without a will.
• Legally cohabiting: you decide on the family home together, even if only one of you is owner. If the owner dies, the other partner inherits the usufruct of the family home and its contents, unless a will limits that.
• Married: you decide on the family home together, and the surviving spouse always keeps at least the usufruct of the family home.

Whoever moves into the other's home and contributes to the costs does not build up ownership that way. So set out what happens to what you put into the home, such as repayments or a renovation. A cohabitation agreement can arrange who owns what, how you share the costs and what happens in a break-up. Legal cohabitants have it drawn up by a notary (notaris.be, 2019).

Also think of a death. De facto cohabitants do not inherit from each other, unless there is a will, and that is why gifts between unmarried partners are important too (notaris.be, 2019). A will can always be revoked.

For the inheritance tax in Flanders, a de facto cohabiting partner counts as partner if on the day of death you had been cohabiting without interruption for at least one year and ran a joint household. For the exemption on the family home you must have been cohabiting without interruption for at least 3 years (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, the Flemish Tax Administration).

Such a conversation is not romantic, but it protects you both. A notary can set the options side by side.

For the sole owner-occupied home you pay 2 % registration duty in Flanders, instead of the standard rate of 12 % (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). The conditions are assessed per buyer. Whoever is still full and sole owner of another home or building plot only gets 2 % if they commit to selling it within 2 years after the deed, or within 3 years with a commitment to an energy renovation or demolition and reconstruction.

An example from 2026: you buy together, half each, a home of € 500,000. If you both sell your previous home within 2 years, you each pay 2 % on € 250,000, together € 10,000. If one of you keeps their home entirely, for example to let, they pay the standard rate of 12 % on their half, or € 30,000, and the other € 5,000.

If you do not manage the sale in time, you pay the difference with the standard rate on top, plus a tax increase of 20 % on that difference (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). You also register at the new address within 3 years after the deed, and for sale agreements from 2026 you remain registered there without interruption for at least 1 year.

If you are only part owner of another home, you are not full and sole owner; have your notary confirm how that works out for you. The Flemish Government wants to raise the rate of 2 % to 3 % from 1 January 2027. That has been announced, but the decree is not there yet.

Letting brings in an income, but you become a landlord, with duties. For written lease agreements from 1 January 2019 for a home the tenant uses as main residence, the Flemish Residential Lease Decree (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet) applies. The main points (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet):

• A lease agreement for a main residence in principle runs for 9 years.
• The home must meet the conformity requirements of the Flemish Housing Code.
• You have the lease agreement and the inventory of fixtures registered; if that happens late, the costs are yours.
• Tenant and landlord both insure their liability for fire and water damage.
• The rental deposit may not exceed three months' rent.

Selling gives clarity: you no longer have two homes to maintain, and the proceeds can go to a joint home. Do plan well, certainly if you have to meet the 2-year rule. You need the EPC before you put the home up for sale, and for a home from before 2001 the buyer receives the asbestos certificate at the latest at the sale agreement (Vlaamse overheid, the Flemish government).

If you bought your home less than 5 years ago, have it checked whether capital gains tax comes into play. On a built second or third home that you sell within 5 years after the purchase, you pay 16.5 % on the capital gain (notaris.be); for your own home other rules apply.

Keeping it for now without letting gives time, for example to see how living together goes. It does cost: the loan, the insurance, the maintenance and the property tax (onroerende voorheffing) continue. Let your insurer know that the home is empty, and ask your municipality whether there is a vacancy levy.

What rental income or a second home means for your personal income tax, you have checked at FOD Financiën, the federal tax authority, or an accountant.

Set the figures of both homes side by side: the value, what is still outstanding on each loan, the costs of keeping and what a new purchase costs. Agree what happens with the proceeds of a sale: do they go to a joint home, and for which share are you then in the new deed?

A free valuation based on the address, such as Hoobler's, gives a first idea of the value for each home. If you choose a sale, the selling guide helps you choose between selling yourself, with help or with a realtor. Questions to go over together:

• Where do we want to live in five years?
• Can whoever lets keep carrying their own loan if the tenant drops out for a while?
• Do we buy together, and for which share each?
• What if we separate, or if one of us dies?
• Do we meet the 2-year rule if we buy something new together?

May I keep my house if we buy a new home together?

Yes, but if you remain full and sole owner of your previous home, you pay the standard rate of 12 % instead of 2 % on your share of the new home (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). If you commit to selling that home within 2 years after the deed, 2 % applies.

Is the reduced rate assessed per partner?

Yes. The conditions are assessed per buyer (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). So your partner can pay 2 % while you pay the standard rate, or the other way round.

I am moving in with my partner: do I have rights to the house?

As a de facto cohabitant, no: the home remains the property of whoever is in the deed, and without a will you inherit nothing (notaris.be). If you are legally cohabiting or married, you decide on the family home together, even if only one of you is owner.

Can I let my home if I go to live with my partner?

Yes. For lease agreements from 1 January 2019 the Flemish Residential Lease Decree applies: you register the lease agreement, the home must be conform and the rental deposit is at most three months' rent. If you later buy something new together, that let home does count as another home for the registration duty.

What happens if I do not get my previous home sold within 2 years?

Then you pay the difference between the standard and the reduced rate on top, plus a tax increase of 20 % (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). So start the documents and the sale in time.

• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Reduced rate for the purchase of the sole owner-occupied home
• Vlaamse Codex, Flemish Residential Lease Decree
• notaris.be, What about the family home
• notaris.be, What do you inherit as a cohabitant?
• notaris.be, Usufruct clearly explained
• notaris.be, Safety net for cohabiting partners extremely limited (6 November 2019)
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, General rate in the inheritance tax
• Vlaamse Belastingdienst, Exemption from inheritance tax on the family home for the surviving partner
• notaris.be, Capital gains tax
• Vlaamse overheid, Selling a house

Last checked on 28 October 2026.