Our company Schmidt & Schmidt provides Extracts from the land register of Belgium with translation and Apostille.

The real estate registration and recording system in Belgium is being reformed now. If previously, according to expert estimates, it was optimized for the needs of taxation organization, nowadays authorities try to focus on convenience of access to information and verification of rights of ownership.

The information in the Belgian land register is confidential. Belgian law does not allow third parties to access the land register, even with a Power of Attorney. Only owners themselves can apply for an extract from the land register, or local notaries on their behalf.

The task of the land register is to collect, store and systematize information about rights of ownership and lease to land and real estate, and data on rights of real estate encumbrance, and to provide information for the purpose of assuring legal certainty and protection of rights of ownership during execution of transactions with such objects.

Information about real estate in Belgium is stored in:

• cadastral register (kadaster/cadastre)
• registration offices (registratiekantoren/bureaux de l’enregistrement)
• mortgage depositaries (hypotheekbewaringen/conservations d’hypothèques)

All these systems are under the jurisdiction of the General Property Documentation Administration subordinate to the Ministry of Finance of Belgium (Federal State Finance Service).

At present the work for integrating all three systems in a single data base is under way.

Registers are maintained in electronic form. The extracts may be obtained both in electronic and paper form.

Access is implemented either online after registration and receipt of a special identifier, or personally – by applying to offices of administrative services and levies (10 regional centres and 48 branches). Property owners and lessees receive information on a free-of-charge basis in the event that they submit documents on property rights. Besides, free access to register is provided to state officials and notaries and realtors – The General Administration of Property Rights entered into relevant agreements with these professional groups.

Search criteria

• address
• Identification number of an object
• owner’s personal data
• identification number of owner

The land register was initially established before establishment of the Kingdom of Belgium, during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, and it contains the entire array of information about real estate in XIX – XXI centuries.

The following main extracts may be obtained from land registers:

• official excerption from the register
• extract from the cadastral plan
• cadastral certificate

Besides, a person entitled to real estate may obtain a copy of documents on the right of ownership directly at a notary.

The official excerption from the register contains the following information:

• owner’s personal data
• right, on the basis of which it owns real estate
• type of real estate
• identification number
• year of construction of an object
• land plot area
• on “cadastral income” (special type of estimated value representing a theoretically calculated rent used during tax accrual)

An extract from a cadastral plan, apart from information about an object, also contains data on adjacent land plots.

Extract from the land register of Belgium may be used for:

• confirmation of title to real estate
• receipt of information about the real estate
• debt collection
• analysis of prices for real estate in different regions of Belgium

* some data may be unavailable for certain items, or may be provided for a fee.

Receipt of documents in electronic form is carried out for one working day. 2 weeks are required to obtain documents with apostille.

Extracts from the land register are provided subject to the laws of Belgium and to the Law on personal data protection.

The requests shall be processed within one business day. Courier delivery of the apostilled extract shall be paid additionally according to the courier tariff rates.

Preliminary information about availability of information in the land register of Belgium may be ordered on a free basis on our website.

Apostilled extracts from Belgium

Belgium joined the Hague Convention on simplified legalization of documents on December 11, 1975. On February 9, 1976 the Convention came into force.
Thus, documents issued in Belgium are subject to legalization based on the apostilling procedure, after certified translation such documents acquire full legal force on the territory of all other Hague Convention Member States.

As a rule of thumb, apostillation of extracts takes about two weeks.