Buying an apartment in a co-owned building in Brussels: syndic, service charges, reserve fund and documents to request

Buying
Écrit par Celia Souralaysak

Buying an apartment in Brussels means acquiring a private unit together with a share of the common parts: roof, façade, stairwell, lift, pipework. It also means becoming a member of a co-ownership association (association des copropriétaires), with rights, obligations and service charges. The Civil Code governs this situation closely and requires a high degree of transparency at the time of sale. You still need to know which documents to ask for, and how to read them.

Key point: before signing an offer or a preliminary sale agreement (compromis de vente), the buyer must receive the essential information on the co-ownership's financial position, including the funds, any arrears owed by the seller, the minutes of general meetings from the past three years and the latest approved balance sheet.

1. The legal framework: compulsory co-ownership under the Civil Code

The rules on co-ownership of built property (copropriété forcée) are now set out in articles 3.84 to 3.100 of the Civil Code, which took over the former articles 577-3 et seq. They were modernised by a law of 18 June 2018, which came into force on 1 January 2019.

The building's articles of association

The deed of division (acte de base) describes the building and its private and common parts, and sets the shares (quotités) attached to each unit. The co-ownership regulations (règlement de copropriété) set out each owner's rights and obligations and how charges are apportioned. Together, they form the building's articles of association (statuts). House rules (règlement d'ordre intérieur) supplement them for day-to-day matters (use of the common parts, the period for the annual meeting, and so on).

The co-ownership association

According to the FPS Justice (SPF Justice), the co-ownership association acquires legal personality once at least one unit has been transferred and the deed of division and the regulations have been registered. It is entered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises) and has a company number.

2. The co-ownership's governing bodies

  • ⊞ Body | Role | Main rules
  • General meeting (GM) | The co-ownership's decision-making body | At least one ordinary GM a year, within a 15-day period set by the house rules; an extraordinary GM may be held in an emergency or at the request of co-owners holding at least one fifth of the shares.
  • Syndic (building manager) | Day-to-day management, implementation of decisions, accounts, convening the GM | Appointed by the GM for a term of up to three years, expressly renewable; written contract; may be professional or non-professional.
  • Co-ownership council | Oversight of the syndic's work | Compulsory from 20 units (excluding cellars, garages and parking spaces).
  • Auditor | Checking the accounts | Appointed each year by the GM; may be a co-owner.

Voting majorities at the general meeting

Decisions are in principle taken by an absolute majority of the votes of the co-owners present or represented. Some decisions require a qualified majority: two thirds for certain works on the common parts, four fifths for other significant changes, and unanimity to change the allocation of shares. An irregular decision can be challenged in court within four months of the GM. For a buyer, reading the minutes shows how the building actually runs and what relations between co-owners are like.

3. Working capital fund and reserve fund

Service charges feed two separate funds, each of which must be held in a separate account.

  • The working capital fund (fonds de roulement) covers recurring expenses: electricity for the common parts, maintenance, the lift, building insurance, the syndic's fees. Co-owners pay advances, which are adjusted through periodic statements of account.
  • The reserve fund (fonds de réserve) covers non-recurring expenses: replacing the lift, or renovating the façade or roof, for example.

A compulsory reserve fund, unless decided otherwise

According to the FPS Justice, the co-ownership must set up a reserve fund no later than five years after the provisional acceptance of the common parts. The annual contribution may not be less than 5% of the total ordinary common charges for the previous financial year. The general meeting may, however, decide by a four-fifths majority not to set up this fund (an option reflected in GM minutes and syndics' documentation). An absent or very small reserve fund in an older building is a warning sign worth investigating: major works could end up being financed through one-off calls for funds.

What happens to the reserve fund when a unit is sold?

According to notaire.be, the reserve fund belongs to the co-ownership association. The syndic does not refund it to the seller. The parties may agree in the sale agreement that the buyer will reimburse the seller's share; failing such a clause, the seller loses their rights to the fund. The working capital fund, by contrast, is in principle settled between seller and buyer.

4. The documents to request before signing

Article 3.94 of the Civil Code organises the information given to the buyer in two stages.

Before the offer or sale agreement

Before signing the sale agreement or the purchase offer, the buyer must receive, according to notaire.be and the FPS Justice:

  • the amount of the working capital fund and the reserve fund;
  • the amount of any arrears owed by the seller;
  • the position on calls for funds for the reserve fund decided by the GM before the date of transfer of ownership;
  • a list of pending legal proceedings concerning the co-ownership;
  • the minutes of ordinary and extraordinary GMs from the past three years;
  • the periodic statements of charges for the past two years;
  • a copy of the latest balance sheet approved by the GM.

The syndic must provide this information on simple request, within fifteen days.

Before the notarial deed

The notary then asks the syndic about expenditure decided before the date of transfer of ownership: works agreed, approved calls for funds, costs of acquiring common parts, debts arising from disputes. This information determines what will be borne by the seller and what by the buyer. Notaire.be states that, unless otherwise agreed, the buyer bears the ordinary charges from the date of the notarial deed (acte authentique). For extraordinary charges decided between the sale agreement and the deed, it is wise to set out a clear rule in the sale agreement and to ask for a proxy so that you can attend any GMs held in the meantime.

What to read first

  • In the minutes: works that have been decided, as distinct from those merely under consideration, together with any quotes and studies mentioned.
  • In the statements of account: the actual level of charges and how they have changed.
  • In the balance sheet: the amount in the reserve fund and any unpaid sums owed by other co-owners.
  • Pending disputes, which can weigh on the association's finances.

5. Small buildings without a professional syndic

Many Brussels townhouses have been divided into two, three or four apartments. In these small buildings, the co-ownership is sometimes managed informally, without a professional syndic.

The rules apply to small co-ownerships too

The law provides no simplified regime based on the size of the building, except for the co-ownership council, which is compulsory only from 20 units. The annual meeting, the funds, the syndic and the information owed to the buyer therefore all still apply. The syndic may, however, be a non-professional co-owner, possibly unpaid; according to the FPS Justice, the association then pays for their liability insurance.

The derogatory regime and its limits

The Civil Code allows the compulsory co-ownership regime to be set aside where the nature of the common parts justifies it and all co-owners agree. This derogatory regime is fragile: since 2019, a single co-owner can ask for it to be ended, and in 2024 the Constitutional Court extended this possibility to regimes established before that date. A buyer therefore cannot count on it remaining in place.

Specific checks

  • Is there a registered deed of division and a set of co-ownership regulations?
  • Has a syndic been appointed, and is the association entered in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises?
  • Is the whole building covered by insurance?
  • Have GMs been held and minutes drawn up?
  • Are the common accounts kept separate from the co-owners' personal accounts?
  • Is the division into apartments covered by a planning permit (permis d'urbanisme)?

The absence of these elements does not make the purchase impossible, but it complicates the information available to the prospective buyer and collective decision-making. Your notary can advise on the steps to take.

6. The case of a fully renovated building

When an older building is fully renovated and then sold apartment by apartment, the co-ownership is often created or reorganised at that point: a new deed of division, new regulations, appointment of a first syndic. It is worth asking for the articles of association, the identity of the syndic, the projected service-charge budget, the post-intervention file (dossier d'intervention ultérieure, DIU) relating to the works and the EPB certificates (certificats PEB) for the units. The deadline for setting up the reserve fund runs from the provisional acceptance of the common parts.

This article is for information only and does not constitute personalised legal advice. For the analysis of a specific co-ownership, your notary remains the reference point.

Sources

In conclusion

In a co-ownership, the quality of a purchase depends as much on the health of the building and how it is managed as on the apartment itself. Taking the time to read the syndic's documents is the best way to avoid unpleasant surprises. Living Home Promotion buys older buildings in Brussels, has them fully renovated by its partner Next Homes and sells the renovated apartments. To see the properties available, visit our property projects.

Celia Souralaysak
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