Used in the context of forward sales or sales in the future state of completion (VEFA), the reservation contract is concluded between the developer and the buyer. It is the only valid contract for reserving all or part of a building.

The reservation contract

The reservation contract is drawn up before the funds are paid. It offers the reservee the guarantee that the builder will reserve a specific lot for him. It also allows the developer to ensure that the project he plans to build is economically and legally feasible.

The reservation contract contains all the information concerning the reserved property:

- Type of building
- Service
- Delivery date
- Final or reviewable price (in the case of a reviewable price, the review conditions must be stated in the contract)
- Location
- Date of establishment of the sales contract

Payment of funds to reserve a new home

The guarantee cannot exceed 2 % of the projected price and is paid into a dedicated account in the name of the reserving party. The funds paid are unavailable, non-transferable and unseizable until the deadline of the reservation contract or the signing of the sales contract.

The interest earned during this period will be paid to the hirer. Unless a cancellation clause is included in the contract, in which case the interest is collected by the builder.

The funds can be returned if the seller does not meet his commitments in terms of time (date foreseen on the preliminary contract) or if certain elements of the final contract differ from the preliminary contract (sale price higher than 5 % or quality negatively impacting the cost price of the property by at least 10 %).

What happens if you do not build?

It should be noted that the developer is not obliged to build if he considers the project risky. The reservation contract only serves to assure the reserving party that their lot will not be sold to a third party when the construction is completed. If the project is abandoned, the developer returns the deposit to the reserving party. In the absence of economic or legal reasons, the developer who cancels the construction of a project may be obliged to pay a sum to be defined as damages.

Reserving accommodation during the construction of the building

A developer who draws up a reservation contract when work has already begun undertakes to complete the construction and reserve the lot listed in the reservation contract. If the final sale price is mentioned, the reservation contract acts as a contract of sale.