Do you want to buy the residential property alone? Or together with your wife or your significant other? You will need to indicate, at the latest in the purchase contract, if you are buying the house alone or in co-ownership, and to what extent you and your partner will be involved in the purchase. This information will be recorded in the Land Register. The most common forms of homeownership are:

• Sole ownership: You use your own capital to purchase the property. You may freely dispose of the property, but are also solely responsible for maintenance, damages and payment of interest to the bank.

• Joint ownership: With this form of ownership, the owners of a property are joint owners either in accordance with a contract (such as a marriage contract or a simple partnership) or by law (usually through a community of heirs) –  and this, regardless of the amount of money either party has invested in the property. What matters is the relationship between the joint owners, such as a marriage contract. The relationship determines the stake of each party in the property. The parties of a joint ownership may not freely dispose of their shares: Decisions, as in the sale of the property, must be made jointly.

• Co-ownership: You share ownership with one or more other people. The co-ownership shares are recorded in the Land Register, and are generally based on the share of the price paid by each co-owner. Each owner is free to dispose of their share, but also has the duties of an owner. If an owner wants to sell their share, the other co-owners have a statutory right of pre-emption. Decisions depend on what the majority wants. Condominium is a form of co-ownership that is regulated in detail by the law.