Buying in Brussels .... seeking info / advice

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Panacea

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Considering purchasing an apartment in Brussels. Whilst I have pretty thorough researching the area I am not sure on what taxes arise on purchase.

Apartment is a new build in case that makes any difference to the potential tax implications.

Anyone already been through this that can advise of the pitfalls to be avoided ?

Thanks in advance

:)
 
In Brussels, the capital growth for appartments has been +/- 10 % for the last 10 years. Now the growth may slow down a bit for the next years to come - but overall is Brussels not expensive, compared to other capitals.
If it's a new build you are looking at, be careful to chose the right neighbourhood and quality.
Avoid the city center; people who have money live uptown ("haut de la ville").
Locations that are good to invest:
-Everything in neighbourhood of the CE buildings (with all the new countries joining the CE, there's more and more demand for appartments nearby).
-Ixelles and some parts of Saint-Gilles (Neighbourhood of Place de Chatalain / Rue Americain and a bit further Altitude Cent).
-Personally I don't like the "Quartier du Nord" (neighbourhood around the North Station) - for years it was the worst neighbourhood of the city but with the CE closeby and all the new offices, it is a good investment for sure.

If you want to invest in Belgium, rather than in Brussels - there are a few other cities to consider, where the real price boom still needs to take off.
Gent and Leuven are much cooler and safer cities, and a better investment in the years to come. And at the coast there are Nieuwpoort-Stad, De Haan and Bredene, where prices are expected to take off spectacular in a few years.
But if you have a specific project in mind, please let me know the neighbourhood and I can tell you what th pro's/contra's are.
 
Thanks for the detailed info Urban Dev. Whilst other cities may generate better capital appreciation in the long term or provide for an increased yield I was drawn to the Brussels location based on the location so hopefully you can give me some further insights.

I was looking at a studio or a one bed apartment in a new development on Rue Belliard as it seems like a good location to attract delegates from the EU Commission.

Main concerns at the moment are that the yield would be comparatively low and that roundtrip costs for property investment in Belgium appear pretty prohibitive with Vat of 21% payable on the construction cost cost plus a further 12.5% transfer duty on the land cost - before factoring in notary fees, agents fees and legal fees.
 
Im also thinking about buying in Brussels and I heard that the areas of St Josse and Saint-Gilles are up and coming. Do you think St Josse is near enough to the EU area to be of interest? Id like to try and made some reasonable capital gains so I thought that perhaps an up and coming area would be more fruitfull over a long period.

I read in a Channel 4, 4 homes article that Belgium is considered to be the sixth best place to invest in Europe in order to make money with something like 340% return (I think thats over 10 years). Its very likely that these profits are to be made outside of Brussels though. Here is the article. What do you guys think?
http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/place_in_the_sun/20_make_money.html
 
The capital growth in Brussels is +/- 10%/annum.
It's indeed expected to be higher in other Belgian cities (Gent, Mechelen, Leuven, Hasselt, ...) as prices are still lower there.

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode is not far from the EU-buildings, but it's not cool to live there (dangerous / looks like a dump). There's a lot of development going on,
so maybe it will get better overtime.
Saint-Gilles is quite nice, if you pick the right streets (close to Ixelles / around the parks and squares).

Tip: look around Meiser. It's of course more expensive than St-Josse or St-Gilles but a lot of the buildings/developments are beautiful, and it's close to the EU and ring.
 
Try www.xpats.be, they're lots of useful info on there to get you started. As previous posters said it's easy to rent around the EU area.
 
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