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Published on 19 October 20266 min read
Usufruct on a Property in Belgium: Rights & Value
The Immolytics editorial team
In Belgium a home can be split down the middle of its ownership: one person holds the right to live in it and take its income, another holds the bare ownership. Each may sell only their own share. This article explains what usufruct means on a Belgian property, who can sell, how notaries divide the value between usufruct and bare ownership, and what changes on death or divorce.
What does usufruct on a property mean?
Usufruct, vruchtgebruik in Dutch and usufruit in French, is a real right: one person may use a home and receive its income without owning it.
Full ownership bundles three powers: to use, to enjoy the income, and to dispose. Usufruct splits that bundle. The usufructuary takes use and enjoyment, the bare owner keeps disposal. The bare owner therefore remains the owner and may sell the bare ownership or pass it on at death, but cannot live in the property or let it while the usufruct runs.
Usufruct ends in principle when the usufructuary dies, unless the deed sets a shorter term. The usufructuary may not neglect the property or alter it materially. They carry the ordinary charges, keep it maintained and insured, and manage it as a prudent owner would. Letting is allowed, and the rent belongs to them.
Three situations create usufruct most often: an inheritance, where the surviving partner usually receives the usufruct of the family home and the children the bare ownership; a gift, where parents transfer the bare ownership to their children and keep the usufruct; and an ordinary sale of one of the two split rights.
Can you sell a property that is subject to usufruct?
Yes. The bare owner can sell the bare ownership and the usufructuary can sell the usufruct, each for their own share. Only together can they transfer full ownership in a single transaction.
A buyer of bare ownership receives exactly what the seller held: ownership of the property, burdened by a usufruct that keeps running. The buyer of the usufruct takes over the right for the term that is left. Such a sale goes through a notarial deed and is registered; the notary checks the titles and the correct description of the rights.
Registration duties are levied on the right that is transferred, and the rules differ by region and by the status of the buyer. To see which rate applies in your case, read the explanations on registration duties for a first home and on registration duties for a second home. With a split sale, ask the notary to run the figures beforehand, because the tax authority may assess the value of each part separately.
One point that surprises buyers: a bare owner cannot move into the property or let it while the usufruct runs. That narrows the pool of candidates and weighs on the price. Lenders are more cautious too, since the usufructuary can only pledge the usufruct and the bare owner only the bare ownership. To gauge whether such a purchase is affordable, compare the information on mortgage rates with your own deposit before you negotiate.
How is the value of usufruct and bare ownership calculated?
The value of the usufruct depends on how long it will run, and that duration is estimated from the age of the usufructuary. The bare ownership is what remains of the total value.
Notarial practice uses conversion tables that turn the age of the usufructuary into a share of the full value. The older the usufructuary, the shorter the expected term, the smaller the usufruct share and the larger the bare ownership share. There is no fixed split that hands each party half. For a gift or an inheritance the tax authority uses similar tables, and those can differ from what the parties consider fair between themselves.
The condition of the home, its location, the rental income and market conditions also count. To know the full value, start from official figures rather than an asking price. The price map shows median prices per municipality in relief, and each municipality has a detail page, for example house prices in Mesen. Those figures come from the official property statistics of Statbel and give a dated data point, not an opinion. If you need a substantiated value for one specific home under usufruct, a valuation report or a free valuation is the logical next step.
What changes on death or divorce?
When the usufructuary dies, the usufruct is extinguished and the bare owner becomes the full owner. On divorce, the usufruct has to be included in the division, even when only one of the partners holds the right.
After death there is nothing left to split: the bare owner may occupy, let or sell the property as full owner. The tax consequences of that consolidation are best reviewed with the notary, because they depend on how the bare ownership was acquired and on the region.
If the split comes from a divorce, the division decides who keeps the home and whether an equalisation payment follows. The explanation of how the family home and the equalisation payment work in a divorce sets the scenarios side by side. Where a gift is involved, note that gifted bare ownership does not in principle return to the donor, while the usufruct remains a personal right.
What should you check when selling or buying?
Anyone buying or selling a split right checks the rights themselves first, then the remaining term, then the costs attached to the property. The price comes last.
- Ask for the deed and the titles, and have it verified whether the usufruct runs for life or for a fixed term.
- Agree in writing who pays the property tax, the insurance and the major works. In the standard arrangement the ordinary charges fall on the usufructuary, but a different clause in the deed prevails.
- Check the energy certificate. In Wallonia a certificate is required when a home is sold or let; Brussels works with performance targets dated per dwelling, without a link to a sale; Flanders has its own rules. The exact obligation therefore differs by region.
- In Flanders only, a sale can trigger a renovation obligation. Brussels and Wallonia do not attach such an obligation to a sale.
- Run the financing past your bank before making an offer, and use the calculators to put the monthly payment next to your budget.
- Selling on your own? Preparation pays: read how to present a home for sale and compare estate agents or agency offices for support.
Frequently asked questions
Can the usufructuary sell the property without the bare owner?
The usufructuary can sell the usufruct without the bare owner, but not the full ownership. The buyer then receives only the right to use the property and take its income, for the term that is left.
Who pays the property tax when a property is under usufruct?
The usufructuary in principle carries the charges of the property, including the property tax and the insurance. The parties may agree a different split in the deed, but the tax assessment follows the statutory rule, so have the notary confirm the position.
Does usufruct end when the property is sold?
No, the usufruct continues after a sale, including when only the bare ownership is sold. It ends in principle on the death of the usufructuary or at the end of the term stated in the deed.
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