Senior Housing

One of the most important challenges of our century will be to develop and manage an infrastructure to provision and care for an increasingly more important number of dependant and non-active elderly citizens. Within a few decades, the percentage of elderly people in Belgium in a need for professional care will be multiplied by a factor of 4 or 5.

Our Senior Housing team benefits from Verhaegen Walravens’ longstanding expertise in all real estate matters, spearheaded by partner Anouk De Graef. Over the years, Anouk supplemented this important practice group with a deep knowledge of all aspects and issues with respect to the construction, management, acquisition and financing of senior housing projects and developments.

Our team regularily negotiates with the competent authorities for the obtainance of permits or the reimbursement of INAMI/RIZIV indemnities. It deals with human resources related issues with respect to the exploitation of senior housing, nursing homes, service apartments and assisted living units. Having an outstanding expertise with respect to these operational aspects of this sector, our Senior Housing team have an added value in all M&A transactions, transfers of licenses or undertakings, construction and permit related issues with respect to senior housing.

News

03/04/201803/04/2018

April 2018 – VAT on immovable lease: back and forth

In the fall of last year, the government withdrew its project to subject immovable lease to VAT on option due to budget constraints.

Apparently, things have changed as, after the budget control of March 2018, the press release issued at that occasion announces that the measure will be taken with effect as from 1 October 2018.

Not so many details are available at this stage, but it seems that that the intention of the government is to make the option possible only:

for newly constructed or deeply renovated buildings;
if both the landlord and tenant agree to do so;
if the tenant is a VAT taxpayer including VAT exempt tenants such as insurance companies, financial institutions, etc.

Our Tax practice will keep you informed of the development as soon as rumours have changed into text.

Our fear is that such a limited scope of application creates a double real estate market detrimental to the readability of the sector of activity. Indeed, depending on the option is exercised or not (or can be exercised), the building investment cost will differ by 21%, which, in turn, will be reflected in the resale price in the future.

24/10/2017

October 2017 Update – Option to subject professional leasing to VAT initiative cancelled

Following up on our earlier post in September, we have meanwhile been informed that the Federal Government has ultimately decided past weekend to cancel the proposed introduction of an optional mechanism to subject professional leasing to VAT for notably budgetary reasons.

We believe this is highly unfortunate. The introduction of such a system could have drastically improved the competitivity of professional tenants towards foreign competitors and could have affected the real estate market on various fronts. Importantly, the system would have eliminated the need for complex structures to make the VAT-system applicable to a priori exempted transactions.

Notwithstanding the above, it cannot be excluded that the Federal Government may still introduce more minor changes to the existing real estate VAT regimes such as regarding the putting at the disposal of storage facilities. The discussions regarding these matters is still ongoing and other initiatives may still be developed.

Our Tax practice will keep you up date regarding these evolutions via our News section.

04/10/201704/10/2017

September 2017 – Option to subject professional leasing to VAT

Bruno De Duve, who leads our Tax practice group, & Helene Mulier, summer intern, discuss in depth the recent legislative initiative of the Belgian Federal Government to allow the possibility to subject to VAT the mere letting of an immovable property to a business subject to VAT as of 1 January 2018. This draft bill may drastically improve the competitivity of professional tenants towards foreign competitors and may effect the real estate market on various fronts.

01/12/201615/09/2017

End 2016 – Anouk De Graef, our real estate and senior housing expert, assisted Group Ter Bleuk in their takeover by Care Property Invest

Please see https://lnkd.in/gqAs8cS for Care Property’s press release.