BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Pieter Puelinckx, Yves Moreau, Donald Krols and Astrid Laga, Linklaters
growth of this type of niche investment high - lights a shift in investment strategies to adapt to evolving market conditions and the pursuit of more sustainable assets. • Focus on “added value” investors are increas - ingly focusing on value-added properties and redevelopment projects. They are actively seeking older, non-compliant, or undervalued real estate, especially in the residential sec - tor, where they believe they can significantly boost value through renovation or repurpos - ing. • Revising strategy and risk management – the sector is rethinking its approach by prioritis - ing risk management and financial vigilance. ESG principles are incorporated into opera - tional management, emphasising sustainable development and investments that have a positive social impact. • Signs of recovery – despite the slowdown, there are early signs of recovery in the hous - ing market, alongside a cautious return of institutional investors to the Brussels office market. This is bolstered by interest rate cuts from central banks and the sector’s inherent resilience, coupled with strategic adaptation by investors (with an increased focus on ESG and sustainability needs). With respect to major deals, some remarkable transactions occurred in 2024, such as: • the acquisition by Ablon Retail Real Estate of the Stadsfeestzaal shopping centre; • the acquisition by Cityforward of European Commission’s buildings in Brussels; • the acquisition by IRET of the Ferraris build - ing from the Flemish region in Brussels; • the Belgian group Interparking has reached an agreement to acquire its Spanish counter - part, Saba – this acquisition, which is expect - ed to be finalised by the summer of 2025, will
make Interparking the second-largest parking investor and operator in Europe; and • the acquisition by Nextensa of the Proximus Towers in Brussels North combined with the development of the new Proximus headquar - ters by Nextensa on the Tour & Taxis site and the subsequent lease to Proximus. 1.3 Proposals for Reform In the context of the Civil Code reform (see 1.1 Main Sources of Law ), several of the (new) Civil Code Books impacting the real estate practice are already in force: Book 1 (General Provisions), Book 3 (Property Law), and Book 5 (Obligations). On 1 January 2025, Book 6 came into force, and includes a reform of the extracontractual liability regime. Proposals for Book 7 and Book 9, which encompass special contracts and securities, were filed in February 2025 and September 2024 respectively and are still under discussions. The different types of Belgian property rights (ie, real rights) are exhaustive in nature, as only the legislator can establish new property rights. The current legal property rights are as follows. • Ownership – provides the owner with use, enjoyment, and disposal rights regarding their property (subject to legal limits). It is a per - petual right. • Co-ownership – shared property rights among multiple (natural or legal) persons over the same asset or set of assets, without exclusive right over such asset(s) or parts of them. • Easements – a right to use or limit the use of another property, involving the imposition of a charge on a property benefitting another. 2. Sale and Purchase 2.1 Categories of Property Rights
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