Buying new-build or off-plan property in Spain: what to check

An off-plan home may appeal because you can choose finishes and avoid renovating immediately after purchase. The trade-off is that several important decisions arrive before you can inspect the finished property. If you are buying from abroad, distance adds another layer: you need a reliable way to verify progress and resolve questions without treating every sales update as independent evidence.

Start with the development stage, not the showroom

Ask whether the project is being marketed before construction, is under way or has reached completion. Request the developer’s legal identity, the relevant land or property records and the building-permission position. Establish who is actually selling to you. The developer, contractor and sales agency can have different roles even when the branding makes them appear to be one business.

Commission review of the specific unit and contract. A convincing history of completed developments is useful background, but it does not replace checking this project’s documents. Keep a record of questions and ask for written answers linked to the current document version, particularly when layouts or delivery dates change.

Follow the money before making a stage payment

Spanish legislation addresses advance payments for homes under construction through the first additional provision of the Building Regulation Act, known as the LOE. Its framework includes protection from the building-licence stage, a special account and individualised guarantee documentation. Ask your adviser to check how that framework applies to the payment you are about to make.

The practical test is documentary: can you identify your property, your name, the protected amounts, the guarantor and the payment account? A development-level marketing statement about guarantees is not the same as verifying the instrument for your purchase. If an early payment is requested before the licence or supporting paperwork is available, resolve that position before transferring funds.

Retain every receipt and bank confirmation with the corresponding invoice or payment request. Verify account changes through a known contact. If you later need to establish your position, a clear payment trail is far more useful than screenshots scattered across several devices.

Translate the specification into everyday questions

The memoria de calidades is the specification or schedule of finishes. Read it as a list of what will be delivered, then test it against how you intend to use the home. “Air-conditioning pre-installation” should trigger a question about which equipment is absent. “Fitted kitchen” should trigger a list of appliances and fittings, rather than an assumption based on the show apartment.

Clarify the process for substitutions. If a product becomes unavailable, how are equivalent performance and appearance assessed? Ask for a written procedure for upgrades, including prices and the final selection deadline. The principles in our guide to comparing construction quotes are useful here: compare the whole scope, including exclusions.

Test the floor plan at furniture scale

Find out which figures describe usable internal space, built area, common-area allocation and terraces. A large headline area can be difficult to interpret without that breakdown. Add a bed, wardrobe and dining table to the plan and leave room for circulation. Ask where columns, service shafts and lower ceilings affect the rooms.

Check the direction of sunlight, surrounding buildings and later phases of the development. A rendered sea view is not a planning assessment of neighbouring land. Distinguish the actual unit from the show home, which may have a different orientation, layout or upgraded package. Save dated marketing material and the exact plans you relied on.

Manage three separate clocks

The construction programme, your payment schedule and your move are connected but not identical. Map the expected dates for instalments, finance approval, finish selections, completion paperwork and handover. Ask what the contract says about delay and what evidence determines that the property is ready for delivery.

Build a practical fallback for storage and temporary accommodation. Avoid committing every relocation booking to the earliest possible completion date. If your funds are in another currency, consider how payment timing affects available cash. Use the complete acquisition-cost guide to include taxes and services alongside the staged purchase price.

Think beyond your own unit

A pool, landscaped grounds and several lifts create ongoing maintenance needs. Ask for the proposed community arrangements, facilities to be delivered in your phase and preliminary operating assumptions. Treat projected charges as estimates until supported by actual arrangements. Our apartment community checklist explains the questions owners will continue to face after the developer leaves.

Find out whether building work will continue around your occupied unit, how access is managed and which amenities will be available at handover. These details can change the experience of your first year even if the inside of your apartment is complete.

Prepare for an evidence-based handover

Ask in advance for the documents needed for lawful occupation and use in that location, the building information pack, installation instructions and relevant insurance or guarantees. Arrange an inspection and record defects by room, with photographs and clear descriptions. LOE liability distinguishes types of building damage; a general reference to a guarantee should not be read as identical cover for every problem. See article 17.

At handover, keep first-occupation documentation separate from new-build defect warranties. Permission to occupy and the process for recording or pursuing a defect answer different questions.

Before the first payment, combine the draft contract, current specification and a list of unresolved issues. Check our guide to reservation and arras agreements for payment questions. To define a new-build search, share the area, complete budget, intended use and your latest acceptable move date.