A label E or F puts some buyers off, but it does not make your home unsellable. Whoever buys knows there is work to do and takes that into account. Here you read what your buyer’s renovation obligation entails, what you have to arrange and how you bring your home to market honestly and strongly.
If someone buys your home with label E or F, that buyer has to renovate it to at least label D within 6 years after the deed (Vlaamse overheid, finally approved on 12 December 2025, checked on 28 October 2026). As seller you do not have to renovate. You do need an EPC (energy performance certificate) from 2019 or later before you put the home up for sale, and the label appears in every advert (Vlaamse overheid).
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.
Who has to renovate if you sell a home with a poor EPC?
The buyer, not you. Whoever has bought or received as a gift a residential home with label E or F since 1 January 2023 has to renovate it to at least label D within 6 years after the deed (Vlaamse overheid, the Flemish government). The extension from 5 to 6 years was finally approved on 12 December 2025 and applies to current and new transfers.
The obligation applies per dwelling unit, such as a house, a flat or a studio, not to a whole apartment building. If 6 years after the transfer there is no EPC that demonstrates the label, enforcement starts and the owner risks a fine of € 00 to € ,000 per dwelling unit; the fine does not cancel the obligation (Vlaamse overheid).
On what applies after 2028, the official page is not unambiguous: it reports that the planned tightening from 2028 is being abolished, while the long-term path on the same page still mentions label C (Vlaamse overheid, checked on 28 October 2026). Ask your notary what applies at the moment you sell.
Part 2
When does the renovation obligation not apply?
Not every transfer brings a renovation obligation (Vlaamse overheid):
An inheritance does not fall under it. If a renovation obligation was already running for the deceased, the heirs meet the remaining period.
If only the usufruct or only the bare ownership is transferred, the obligation does not apply.
In a divorce, the end of a cohabitation or a division between co-owners of whom at least one keeps their main residence there, it does not apply either.
What is demolished within 6 years after the purchase does not have to meet the renovation obligation.
Part 3
What do you have to arrange as seller?
You need an EPC before you offer the home for sale, and the label or the energy score appears in every advert, online, on a poster or via a realtor. Without an EPC you risk a fine of € 00 to € ,000, and even then you have to have one drawn up (Vlaamse overheid).
An EPC is usually valid for 10 years, but since 2022 the EPC of an existing home must have been drawn up in 2019 or later (Vlaamse overheid). If you have an older EPC, you have a new one drawn up by a type A energy expert.
The EPC gives the label from F to A+, the energy score in kWh per m² per year and recommendations to make the home more efficient (Vlaamse overheid). It is precisely those recommendations that help your buyer estimate what they have to do.
The buyer receives a copy of the EPC before the sale agreement (compromis) and the original at the deed. The EPC is not an essential element of the sale: the buyer cannot afterwards go back on the sale on the basis of the EPC they received. If a new EPC has to be made before the deed and it gives a different score, that gives neither party the right to change the price (the notaries’ model sale agreement).
Part 4
What does a poor EPC do to your price and your buyers?
There is no official figure on how much a label E or F makes a home cheaper. What is clear is how a buyer calculates: they add up the price, the purchase costs and the renovation needed within 6 years, and compare that with a home that already has label D or better.
A home with a poor label can be precisely interesting for those who want to renovate to their own taste, who can do part of the works themselves or who want to demolish and rebuild. An open EPC and a clear picture of the condition of the home make those buyers more confident.
For the buyer there are Flemish support measures. With the renovation obligation the Flemish government mentions among others Mijn VerbouwPremie, the EPC label grant, Mijn VerbouwLening and the renovation loan with interest subsidy (Vlaamse overheid). Amounts and conditions change regularly; your buyer had best check them at the moment of their application.
If your buyer buys at the reduced rate of % and still has another home, they get 3 years instead of 2 to sell it if they commit to an energy renovation or demolition and reconstruction (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, the Flemish Tax Administration). On renovation works to a home, % VAT can apply under conditions (FOD Financiën, the federal tax authority).
Part 5
Renovate first or sell as is?
There is no fixed answer. Renovating before the sale takes time, money and energy, and whether you see that back in the price, nobody can promise you in advance. Selling as is leaves the choice to the buyer, who can plan the works in their own way and with their own support.
Insulation of facades and roofs up to 26 centimetres is exempt from an environmental permit in Flanders, as long as you do not cross the building line (Departement Omgeving, the Flemish environment department). If you have works carried out, then have a new EPC drawn up afterwards, so that the better label also appears in your advert.
Set a few questions side by side:
How much time do you have for the sale? A renovation quickly takes months.
Is it one intervention that visibly improves the label, such as roof insulation, or a thorough renovation? Ask an energy expert what the recommendations on your EPC would change about your label.
Can you pay for the works without pressure on your next step, such as a purchase?
Do you still want to make choices yourself, or would you rather leave them to someone who is going to live there?
Part 6
What do you get ready for your buyer?
The better your buyer knows what they are buying, the better they can substantiate their bid. In a free sale dossier at Hoobler you see which documents your home needs. Hoobler retrieves what it can, such as the land registry data, the planning information and the regional zoning plan (gewestplan), and EPC, asbestos certificate and electrical inspection you order there via partner De Immowinkel, at their rate. That way your label is in your dossier early and openly.
Get ready what you have:
The EPC, with the recommendations.
Invoices and certificates of works you already had done, such as insulation, windows or a new heating system.
The 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).
The inspection certificate of the electrical installation (Vlaamse overheid).
The planning information, so that your buyer knows what is allowed (Vlaamse overheid).
Plans and photos of attic, cellar and technical rooms.
Part 7
What about a flat, and about Brussels or Wallonia?
For a flat the renovation obligation applies per flat. Sometimes works to the common parts are needed for that, such as roof insulation; those legally required works can be decided by the general meeting with a simple majority of 5 % plus 1 (Vlaamse overheid). Give your buyer the minutes on planned works.
The renovation obligation and the EPC rules in this guide are Flemish. In Brussels and Wallonia other rules apply; ask your notary what applies there.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
Do I have to renovate my house before I sell it?
No. The renovation obligation lies with the buyer: whoever buys a home with label E or F has to renovate it to at least label D within 6 years after the deed (Vlaamse overheid). You do need an EPC before you put the home up for sale.
How much time does the buyer have to renovate a home with label F?
6 years after the deed, to reach at least label D. That period was extended from 5 to 6 years on 12 December 2025, also for current transfers (Vlaamse overheid).
May I put my home up for sale without an EPC?
No. You need the EPC before you offer the home for sale, and the label or the score belongs in the advert. Without an EPC you risk a fine of € 00 to € ,000 (Vlaamse overheid).
Is an EPC from before 2019 still valid for a sale?
No. Since 2022 the EPC of an existing home must have been drawn up in 2019 or later (Vlaamse overheid). A recent EPC is usually valid for 10 years.
Can the buyer lower the price if the EPC turns out worse?
Before the sale agreement you negotiate the price freely. After that the EPC is not an essential element of the sale, and a new EPC with a different score gives neither party the right to change the price (the notaries’ model sale agreement).
Does the renovation obligation also apply to an inheritance or a gift?
An inheritance does not fall under it, a gift does (Vlaamse overheid). If the heirs sell the home, the buyer does have to renovate if the label is E or F.
In your free sale dossier you see which certificates your home needs. You order the EPC there via De Immowinkel, so that your buyer knows what they have to do before their bid.