When you buy from a developer you pay before the home exists. As your off-plan property lawyer in Spain, we start with the one thing that matters most: a bank guarantee for every instalment. We then check the guarantee, the building licence, the payment plan and the first occupation licence — and stay with you until you get the keys. In five languages.
Every instalment must be covered by a bank guarantee or insurance policy. No guarantee, no payment.
New builds pay 10% VAT plus 1.2% stamp duty (AJD) in Andalusia — not transfer tax.
We negotiate deadlines, termination rights and penalties — a developer’s standard contract protects the developer.
Defects are listed before you sign at the notary. After that, the statutory warranties run for 10, 3 and 1 year.
Without the licencia de primera ocupación there are no permanent utilities and no rental licence.
This is what we review before you sign the reservation contract. Work out the extra costs first with our purchase costs calculator; for a resale purchase, see how buying a property in Spain works.
The developer must hold every pre-completion payment in a separate account and back it with a bank guarantee or insurance policy, as required by Ley 20/2015. If the development is never built, or the developer goes under, you get your money back with interest. Never pay an instalment without its own guarantee certificate: that is the single most important line on this page.
10% VAT (IVA) on the price, payable pro rata with each instalment, plus 1.2% stamp duty (AJD) in Andalusia on the deed. Resale homes pay transfer tax (ITP, 7%) instead. Add notary, land registry and legal fees — all of it in the purchase costs calculator.
Delays are the rule with off-plan projects, not the exception. What matters is the contract: a firm completion date, a capped grace period and your right to walk away. If the deadline passes, you can terminate and claim everything you have paid through the guarantee. Without those clauses you simply wait, with no leverage.
The town hall’s certificate that the building matches the licence and is fit to live in. Without it there are no permanent water and electricity contracts and no rental licence. We never complete before the licence and the architect’s certificate of completion are on the table.
Typically a reservation fee (around €6,000 to €10,000), then 20% to 30% on signing the private contract, further instalments as building progresses and the balance at the notary. Every one of those payments — the reservation included — belongs under the guarantee. Check as well whether the quoted price includes VAT.
Spain’s building act (Ley 38/1999, LOE) gives you ten years for structural damage, three years for habitability defects (damp, insulation, installations) and one year for finishing defects. The clock starts at practical completion — which is why the handover report matters so much.
From the floor plan to the keys: We check guarantees, licences and deadlines — you sign only when everything adds up.
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