Luxembourg's 2026 housing measures: what has changed and what is still a bill

Luxembourg has legislated on housing repeatedly since 2024, and the result is that a buyer researching the subject online will find advice from three different regimes presented as current. Some of the crisis-era measures have expired, one central relief was made permanent, and a further package was announced in July 2026 with elements applying retroactively subject to a parliamentary vote. Sorting what is in force from what is announced is the whole point of this article.

The starting point: the duties

The normal rate on the acquisition for value of immovable property in Luxembourg, whether a house, an apartment or building land, is 7 per cent, made up of 6 per cent registration duty and 1 per cent transcription duty. That has not changed and is the base against which every relief operates.

What is in force: the Bëllegen Akt

The tax credit on notarial acts, known as the Bëllegen Akt, is set against the registration and transcription duties for individuals acquiring a dwelling for their own personal occupation.

• The amount was fixed at €40,000 per acquirer by the law of 3 July 2025, and it remains in force. For a couple acquiring jointly that is €80,000 of credit.
• Four cumulative conditions apply: the property must be in Luxembourg; it must serve as the acquirer's principal and habitual residence; personal occupation must begin on entry into enjoyment or within two years of the deed; and the acquirer must sign a sworn declaration incorporated in the deed.
• It is open to any individual, resident or non-resident, and it applies to an apartment, a house or land intended to receive a principal residence within four years.
• Unused credit is carried forward and can be used on later acquisitions until exhausted.
• It is not available for a buy-to-let. It is strictly for a principal residence occupied personally.
• Resale within two years triggers a clawback, subject to defined exceptions such as a professional transfer or family reasons.
• It combines with other supports, including the 3 per cent housing VAT on new build, the home purchase premium, the interest subsidy, the savings premium and the state guarantee.

The wider crisis-era package of housing tax measures expired on 30 June 2025, including the reliefs aimed at investors. The Bëllegen Akt survived it.

What was announced in July 2026

On 16 July 2026 the government presented a package under the name Booster fir de Wunnengsbau. Three elements matter to individuals.

• An increase in the Bëllegen Akt from €40,000 to €45,000 per person, which for a couple would be up to €90,000. The government's figures put the exemption threshold at a property value of around €640,000 for an individual. The increase is to apply retroactively to notarial acts concluded from 16 July 2026 once the law is voted, and is presented as permanent.
• An exemption from registration and transcription duties on the construction element of an off-plan purchase, where the works are no more than 80 per cent complete at the time of acquisition. Duties remain due on the land element. This is announced for acquisitions concluded from 16 July 2026 and for a period of three years.
• A reduced VAT rate for the creation of rental housing with a social vocation, subject to strict conditions on price per square metre relative to the median published by the Observatoire de l'Habitat, and on surface, yield and letting duration.

The essential caution: these measures must complete their passage through the Chamber of Deputies. Because the increase in the credit is announced as retroactive to 16 July 2026, buyers have not needed to wait for the vote in order to benefit, but the position should be confirmed with your notary for your own transaction rather than assumed from any published summary, including this one.

What this does to a real purchase

Take a completed property purchased at €1,000,000 by a couple as their principal residence. On the government's own worked example, the registration duties amount to €70,000. Under the credit at €40,000 per person the acquirer still pays €30,000. Under the increased ceiling of €45,000 per person that falls to €25,000, an additional saving of €5,000 per person.

At the more common end of the market the effect is more dramatic still, because the credit extinguishes the duties entirely below the threshold. This is why the Bëllegen Akt, rather than the interest rate, is frequently the difference between a purchase working and not working for a first-time buyer.

What to do about it

• Ask your notary for the calculation in writing before the compromis, applying the position current at the date of your deed.
• Check the conditions apply to you, particularly the occupation requirement and the two-year clawback if there is any prospect of an early resale.
• If you are buying off-plan, establish the completion percentage at the date of acquisition, since the duty exemption on the construction element turns on it.
• Do not plan on a measure that is still a bill. Where a relief is announced but not voted, treat it as upside rather than as budget.
• Check whether you have unused credit from a previous acquisition, since it carries forward.

Why the framework keeps moving

Anyone reading about Luxembourg property tax will find contradictory advice online, and the reason is worth understanding rather than being confused by.

• The 2024 crisis package introduced a set of temporary measures, including reliefs aimed at investors and a rollover of capital gains on reinvestment. Most of that expired on 30 June 2025.
• The law of 3 July 2025 made the higher Bëllegen Akt permanent at €40,000 per acquirer, which is the regime currently in force.
• The July 2026 package proposes a further increase and new reliefs, with retroactive effect subject to the vote.

The practical rule for a buyer: verify the position at the date of your own deed, with your own notary, in writing. An article, a forum post or a colleague's experience describes a regime that may already have been replaced. On a transaction of this size, that confirmation is worth asking for explicitly rather than assuming the agent or the lender has checked it.

Three questions we are asked

Can we both claim the credit if we buy together?

The credit is per person, so a couple acquiring jointly in indivision can each claim, provided each meets the conditions and both appear in the deed. The rule applies to marriage, registered partnership and simple cohabitation alike.

Does it apply to a buy-to-let?

No. The credit is strictly reserved for a principal residence occupied personally. Investors were served by separate measures, and the crisis-era package of investor reliefs expired on 30 June 2025.

What if I sell within two years?

A resale within two years triggers a clawback of the credit, subject to defined exceptions including a professional transfer and family reasons. If there is a realistic chance of an early move, raise it with the notary before signing rather than after.

How we work on this

The relief position changes faster than the market does, and it is the single largest variable in what a purchase actually costs. We check the current position with the notary on every transaction rather than relying on last year's answer.

A useful way to test what is in force: the bëllegen akt is to run a normal-day scenario. For the question raised by “What is in force: the Bëllegen Akt”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

For what this does to a real purchase, note what you can see, what you can measure, what you need to ask and what would be expensive to change. For the question raised by “What is in force: the Bëllegen Akt”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

For what was announced in july 2026, measurement is often more revealing than opinion. For the question raised by “What was announced in July 2026”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

A stronger reading of what was announced in july 2026 starts by asking what would change for the resident on an ordinary weekday.