The obligation that comes with the keys

How we work

Why we raise it before the offer

Since 2023 the Flemish Region has imposed a renovation obligation on the purchaser of a residential building with an energy performance label of E or F: the property must be renovated to attain at least label D within five years of the authentic deed. It is one of the few property obligations that arises on acquisition and binds the person buying rather than the person selling, which makes it structurally easy to leave unmentioned.

The commercial effect is straightforward. A dwelling at label F is cheaper than an equivalent one at label C, and the discount looks like an opportunity until the route to label D is priced — insulation, glazing, heating, sometimes ventilation. A buyer who did not know the obligation existed has bid as though the discount were a saving. A buyer who did know has bid as though it were a deferred bill, which is what it is.

So we state the label and whether the obligation will apply before any offer is made. The same applies to the asbestos certificate, which a pre-2001 building cannot be transferred without, and to the electrical inspection report, which is sometimes unfavourable. None of those documents helps anybody if it first appears among the annexes on signing day. And because we are the owner-seller rather than an agent, with interests that differ from a buyer's, we would rather hand over accurate information early than rely on a buyer not asking.