Do I need to have shares of Care Property Invest in order to be able to live in a service flat realised by Care Property Invest (formerly Serviceflats Invest)?

No: anyone can register with the operator (PCSW or asbl) with a request to be included on the waiting list of which the order is determined by the regulations laid down by the operator (e.g. residents own municipality have priority over non-residents, people over 75 have priority over younger seniors). Care Property Invest cannot intervene in this respect and the allocation of flats is done entirely autonomously by the operators. One exception to this rule: shareholders who meet certain conditions are entitled to   priority residential rights : see next question.