Sales

• Who can apply to acquire an affordable dwelling?

1. Private individuals working in the City of Luxembourg or in the defined parts of the Communes of Strassen, Sandweiler, Niederanven and Hesperange. (Pdf, 350 Kb)
2. Retired persons living in the defined area

In the case of acquisition by two persons, at least 1 person must must meet this condition. In the case of acquisition by a group of 3 persons at least one person must fulfil this condition. In the case of acquisition by a group of 4 or more persons at least half of the persons must fulfil this condition.

• The apartments will be made available by way of emphyteutic lease. This is a long-term lease on a property of which the lessee (acquirer) has full enjoyment by means of a single payment upon acquisition. The lessee has all the rights associated with ownership of the property. He undertakes to maintain it and in any case not to diminish its value.

• The duration is set at 99 years and starts on the date of signing the deed of sale of the land between the Fund and the developer. Upon maturity of the emphyteutic lease, the Fund reserves the right to either propose an extension of the right of emphyteusis for a duration and on conditions to be determined between the parties, or to take possession of the property, subject to indemnifying the lessee for the value of any structural works.

• Only one affordable apartment can be acquired by a natural person on the Kirchberg Plateau, counting all Kirchberg Fund affordable housing projects together. The aim of the property operation is to make the acquisition of a dwelling possible for people encountering difficulties in the open market, given the prices. The apartments are not intended for property investment.

• The dwelling must be the owner's personal, principal, permanent residence. Letting, non-occupation or permitting someone else to live there free of charge, are mot permitted.

• An applicant to acquire an apartment who is the owner or co-owner, directly or indirectly (through a company for example) or usufructuary of a residential property in Luxembourg or abroad must prove that he has sold the residential property in question within three months of receiving the keys to the residential property acquired in Kirchberg.

• As an exception, the Fund will allow moves within its affordable housing programme providing a number of conditions are all met. In this framework, people who have already acquired an affordable home can acquire a new one providing they sell the old one to the Fund, which will exercise its pre-emptive right, within three (3) months of the new apartment’s being completed and the keys being handed over. In order to benefit from this exception, applicants should be able to show a lasting change in the composition of their household relative to the time when they acquired the current affordable home, making it unsuitable or at the very least less suitable. 

• We would point out that, other than priority on the list of applicants, persons applying to switch homes under this “internal mobility” programme will not benefit from any other advantage. Thus it is for them to take care of the potential consequences, such as tax charges (VAT, abatement, tax reduction, etc.) or mortgages or other encumbrances resulting from their decision to change homes. 

• The type of apartment that can be acquired depends on the composition of the applicant’s household. An applicant with a dependent child or children can apply for an apartment with two, three or four bedrooms. A retired applicant can apply for an apartment with one or two bedrooms. An applicant with no children can apply for an apartment with one or two bedrooms. A minimum of 45% of the dwellings are reserved to applicants with a dependent child or children.

• The order in which applications will be attended to will be determined by drawing lots. Four lists will thus be created showing the order in which applications will be considered based on the category of the applicants: one with the names of the applicants for “internal mobility”, one with the names of applicants with a dependent child or children, another with the names of applicants with no dependent children and a fourth list with the names of retired applicants.

• These lists will show, definitively, the type of residential property specified by the applicants

• The developer will first receive the applicants on the list relating to “internal mobility”, in the order in which they appear on the list, for the choice of an apartment in accordance with the type indicated in their forms, followed by those with a dependent child or children. Next come the applicants on the list without dependent children and finally the retired applicants. The indication of the type of residential property is limiting. Thus, an applicant will be contacted only with a view to his acquiring an apartment corresponding to the choice expressed in his application. Applications that do not clearly indicate the choice of type of residential property will not be considered.

• A pre-emptive right is a priority or preferential right granted to private or public persons to acquire an asset before any other person, providing the owner is willing to grant it.

• The Fund has a pre-emptive right in the event that the acquirer should sell an apartment, a parking space or part of a dwelling (cellars, etc.). This pre-emptive right applies throughout the duration of the lease and to all disposals, whether for valuable consideration (exchanges, etc.) or gratis, with the exception of donations in direct line of descent or succession. The Fund or persons claiming through it are free to exercise this right or not. If the pre-emptive right is exercised, a value for recovery by the Fund is defined in the framework of the general conditions so as to restrain property speculation.