Real cases, seasonal questions, what gets stuck in practice. For the detailed rule, each post links to its guide page.
21.10.2026Yes, but not through a simple clause in the house rules. A Belgian co-ownership can ban or regulate holiday letting by amending its articles, by a four-fifths majority of the votes and before a notary. In Brussels, a co-owner cannot register anyway without the written consent of the general meeting.
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19.10.2026Most of the time, two contracts each pay their share. The building policy, taken out by the syndic, covers the damaged structure if it includes water damage cover; your home insurance covers your contents. Repairing the leak follows a third logic: that of the part involved, common or private.
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17.10.2026In your private unit, you renovate without asking anyone's opinion. As soon as the works touch a load-bearing wall, the facade or a common pipe, you need a two-thirds vote of the general meeting, obtained before the first sledgehammer blow. Here is how to tell, and how to prepare the request.
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13.10.2026The syndic must send you the minutes within thirty days of the meeting. Once that deadline has passed, or if the document you received is incomplete, write to them straight away. The four-month time limit to challenge a decision runs from the date of the meeting, whether or not the minutes have arrived.
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11.10.2026Yes, an exceptional call for funds voted by the general meeting binds you, even if you voted against it. It almost always comes for the same reason: the reserve fund does not cover the job. The legal minimum of 5% a year was never designed to pay for a roof.
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09.10.2026When a syndic stops responding, you have three ways out in Belgium: not renewing the mandate when it expires, dismissing the syndic at the general meeting, or asking the justice of the peace for a provisional syndic. The right one depends on two things: when the mandate ends and whether you can get a meeting together.
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07.10.2026If the quorum is not reached, the general meeting cannot decide anything that day. A second meeting is held after at least fifteen days, and it deliberates whatever the number of people present. The majorities do not change. Before packing up, redo the calculation all the same: there are two quorums.
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05.10.2026For an issue to be voted on at the next ordinary meeting, your written request must reach the syndic at least three weeks before the first day of the period set in the house rules. Word it as a decision to be taken, attach the documents and keep proof of the date it was received.
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03.10.2026A balcony is neither common nor private by nature: in Belgium, the Civil Code does not classify it, your articles decide, element by element. Slab, waterproofing, surface and railing can have four different statuses. If the articles are silent, the element is presumed to be common.
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01.10.2026On a sale, the buyer pays the ordinary charges once they have use of the unit, and the expenses voted before the sale but called after it, unless agreed otherwise. The seller remains liable for their arrears, which the notary withholds from the price. The reserve fund stays with the association.
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29.09.2026The general meeting has appointed you accounts auditor, or you want to check the figures yourself before voting. Start by asking the syndic for the general ledger, the bank statements and the invoices, then reconcile them in six checks, from the bank balance to the carrying forward of balances. Your conclusions fit on one page, handed to the syndic before the notice of meeting goes out.
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27.09.2026Will you be away on the day of the general meeting? If the notice provides for remote attendance, follow the meeting and vote yourself. If not, give a written proxy to someone you trust, with your instructions item by item. Doing nothing is allowed, but the decisions will still bind you.
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25.09.2026In principle, a notice received too late does not cancel the meeting: it goes ahead and its decisions apply. It does make them open to challenge before the justice of the peace, within four months, if the delay causes you personal harm. Your attendance, your vote and any urgency invoked change the answer.
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25.09.2026No, a volunteer syndic is not free: it removes the fees, not the costs. Liability insurance, registration with the CBE, the accounts, any software and the volunteer's time still have to be paid for. In a small, quiet building, the bill stays light. Beyond that, it shifts onto the volunteer.
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25.09.2026Taking over a syndic file mid-year follows a set order: secure the accounts and the insurance on day one, post and register the mandate within the week, claim the complete file within thirty days, then prepare the general meeting. Here is the checklist, step by step, for a handover that was left incomplete.
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