Buying a new development in Spain: the 2026 off-plan guide

What buying off-plan actually means

Off-plan means buying a dwelling from the developer before it is built, or while it is still under construction. You commit to a home that exists on paper: a floor plan, a specification, a set of renders. In exchange you usually pay in stages across the build, and you take on a different set of risks from a resale purchase. The building might be delayed. The licence might not arrive. The developer might, in the worst case, run into trouble before delivery. None of this should deter a well-advised buyer. It simply means the diligence is different, and the paperwork matters more than the render.

The reassurance is that Spanish law is unusually protective of the off-plan buyer, provided you insist on the protections you are owed. The central statute is the Ley 38/1999, de 5 de noviembre, de Ordenacion de la Edificacion, known as the LOE. It governs who is liable for defects, the mandatory ten-year structural insurance, the Libro del Edificio handed to owners, and, since its amendment by the Ley 20/2015, the mandatory guarantee of every advance payment a buyer makes. Understand the LOE and you understand most of what protects you.

The render sells the home. The private contract, the licence and the guarantee decide whether you are protected.

The building licence: the legal green light

Before a single instalment is paid, one document should exist: the municipal building licence (licencia de obra or licencia de edificacion). This is the town hall's legal permit to build. Under article 5 of the LOE, construction cannot lawfully begin without it. For a buyer, the licence matters for two reasons.

First, it confirms the project is legal. A development marketed without its building licence in place is a development where the numbers, the height, the density or the plot classification may still be contested. Second, and this is the point most buyers miss, the building licence is the legal trigger for your advance-payment protection. Under the Disposicion Adicional Primera of the LOE, the developer's duty to guarantee the sums you hand over runs from the moment the building licence is obtained. No licence, no guarantee, and your money is exposed.

• Ask to see the building licence, or written confirmation of its grant, before signing the private contract.
• Confirm the development is being marketed on the strength of that licence, not on the promise of one to come.
• Treat any request for staged payments before the licence exists as a reason to pause, not proceed.

Reservation, private contract and staged payments

An off-plan purchase typically moves through three stages before completion at the notary.

The reservation

You pay a modest reservation fee to take the unit off the market, usually a fixed sum. This is a holding step, not a binding purchase. Read what the reservation says about refundability, because the meaningful commitment comes at the next stage.

The private purchase contract (contrato privado de compraventa)

This is the document that binds you. It should fix the price, the exact unit and its specification, the payment schedule, and a firm completion date. It should tie the final payment to the developer obtaining the licence of first occupation, not merely to the building being finished. Crucially, it is at this point that the developer must hand you your individual advance-payment guarantee. If the guarantee is promised for later, that is a gap to close before you sign, not after.

The staged payment schedule

Off-plan is usually paid in instalments across the build, with the balance due at completion. Every euro you pay before delivery, including the IVA charged on each instalment, must be covered by the guarantee described below, and must be paid into a special account opened solely for that development.

The guarantee of your advance payments: the single most important protection

If you remember one thing from this guide, remember this. Under the Disposicion Adicional Primera of the LOE, as rewritten by the Ley 20/2015, any developer of housing who takes advance or staged payments from buyers before delivery must guarantee the return of every sum received, plus statutory interest (interes legal), if construction does not start or the dwelling is not delivered on the agreed date. This duty runs from the moment the building licence is obtained.

The guarantee is provided in one of two forms: a surety-insurance contract (seguro de caucion) with an authorised insurer, or a solidarity guarantee (aval solidario) from a credit institution. Either way, the developer must give you an individual guarantee document for your specific purchase. A general policy for the development that never crystallises into a certificate in your name is not enough.

The law also requires that the sums you pay are received through a credit institution and placed in a separate special account (cuenta especial) opened solely for that development, from which withdrawals may be made only for the construction of that project. This is what stops your instalments from being diverted elsewhere.

Verify the individual guarantee certificate is in your name and in your hands. It is the difference between a delay you can recover from and a loss you cannot.

The coverage is deliberately broad. It extends to the amounts delivered on account, including the IVA paid on those instalments, plus statutory interest from the date each amount was handed over. It is enforceable if the works are not started or the property is not delivered within the agreed period, whether the failure is total or the licence or delivery is simply never achieved. This regime replaced the older Ley 57/1968, which the Ley 20/2015 repealed.

• Confirm which form the guarantee takes: surety insurance (seguro de caucion) or a bank guarantee (aval solidario).
• Insist on the individual certificate in your name, covering your instalments plus IVA plus statutory interest.
• Confirm your payments go into the development's special account, not a general company account.
• Keep every proof of payment. Your recovery is measured by what you can document.

Taxes on a new build in Andalucia

A new build is taxed differently from a resale. The first delivery of a new dwelling by the developer (the primera entrega) attracts IVA, not ITP. The two are mutually exclusive: if you pay IVA you do not pay the transfer tax that applies to second-hand property in Andalucia (a general rate of 7%).

Under article 91 of the Ley 37/1992 del IVA, the first delivery of a dwelling is taxed at the reduced 10% rate. Up to two garage spaces and annexes transmitted together with the dwelling also go at 10%. A super-reduced 4% rate exists, but it applies only to protected housing (viviendas de proteccion oficial de regimen especial o de promocion publica) and, in practice, rarely to private off-plan on the Costa del Sol. On top of the IVA, the notarial deed of a new build is subject to Stamp Duty (Actos Juridicos Documentados, AJD). In Andalucia the general AJD rate is 1.2% of the deed value, applicable to taxable events since 28 April 2021. A standard off-plan purchase therefore carries 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD.

A worked example

On an off-plan purchase with a deed value of 1,000,000 EUR, the IVA at 10% is 100,000 EUR and the AJD at 1.2% is 12,000 EUR, giving 112,000 EUR in purchase taxes before notary, registry and legal fees. Narrow reduced AJD rates exist in Andalucia (for example 0.3% for an under-35 buyer's habitual residence up to 150,000 EUR, or 0.1% for large families or a buyer with a disability up to 250,000 EUR), but they rarely reach luxury off-plan values. Confirm your own figures against your circumstances and the current published rates before you budget.

Completion, first-occupation licence and handover

When the building is finished, two things must happen before you can properly take the keys and live in the home.

The licence of first occupation

A dwelling cannot legally be occupied without a municipal first-occupation licence (licencia de primera ocupacion, or licencia de ocupacion). For a new build the developer must obtain it and hand it to you. It certifies that the works were completed in accordance with the building licence and that the home is fit for occupation, and it is needed to contract definitive water and electricity supplies. Under Andalucia's urban-planning framework, the Ley 7/2002 (LOUA) as updated by the Ley 7/2021 (LISTA), the licence may be granted directly or, in the streamlined regime, operate through a declaracion responsable de ocupacion. The Junta de Andalucia's own buyer guidance is blunt: make sure the developer delivers the first-occupation licence. Tie your final payment to it.

Snagging: the lista de repasos

At handover, walk the property and record every defect, incomplete finish and fault in a written snagging list (lista de repasos), signed and dated. The LOE does not set a separate statutory snagging period; your legal remedies for defects rest on the liability tiers and the mandatory insurance described below, plus the Civil Code rules on hidden defects. A documented snagging list is still your practical starting point and your evidence.

The Libro del Edificio

Under article 7 of the LOE, once the building is finished the project, the certificate of final works (certificado final de obra) and the instructions for the use and maintenance of the building and its installations are assembled into the Libro del Edificio (the Building Book). The developer formalises it and delivers it to the owners. Ask for it. It is the reference document for the building's construction and upkeep.

The long-term guarantees: decennial insurance and the 10/3/1 rule

The LOE protects you well beyond handover, through two mechanisms that outlast the developer's presence on site.

The ten-year structural insurance (seguro decenal)

Article 19 of the LOE requires the developer to take out decennial insurance covering, for ten years, material damage caused by defects in the foundation, supports, beams, floor slabs, load-bearing walls or other structural elements that directly compromise the mechanical resistance and stability of the building. The developer is the policyholder; the developer and each successive purchaser are the insured, so the cover follows the property to you. The minimum insured sum is 100% of the material execution cost including professional fees, and the maximum deductible chargeable to the insured cannot exceed 1% of the insured capital per registered unit. The ten years run from reception of the works (recepcion de la obra).

The 10/3/1 liability tiers

Separately, article 17 of the LOE makes the building agents liable to owners and successive purchasers for material damage on a tiered basis.

1. 1Ten years for damage affecting the foundation, supports, beams, floor slabs, load-bearing walls or other structural elements that compromise mechanical resistance and stability.
2. 2Three years for defects in constructive elements or installations that breach habitability requirements.
3. 3One year for defects in finishing or completion elements, for which the builder answers directly.

The action to claim prescribes two years from the moment the damage manifests, so a defect noticed late must still be pursued promptly once it appears.

Delay, penalties and how to read the risk

Delay is the most common off-plan disappointment, and the law gives you a clear route through it. If the developer fails to deliver by the agreed date, or the building or first-occupation licence is never obtained, you can enforce the advance-payment guarantee under the Disposicion Adicional Primera of the LOE to recover every instalment paid plus statutory interest. That is the backstop, and it is why the individual guarantee certificate is non-negotiable.

Beyond the statutory backstop, the private contract may contain delay-penalty clauses (clausulas penales). These are governed by the Civil Code and, because you are a consumer, by the consumer-protection rules against abusive clauses. Read them with care: a penalty that binds you but leaves the developer's delays cost-free is precisely the kind of imbalance those rules exist to catch. Below is the short verification list every off-plan buyer should run before signing.

• The building licence exists and you have seen it.
• The private contract fixes a firm completion date and a clear specification.
• The final payment is tied to the developer obtaining the licence of first occupation.
• You have received the individual bank guarantee or surety-insurance certificate, in your name, covering your instalments plus IVA plus statutory interest.
• Your payments go into the development's special account.
• Penalty and delay clauses are balanced and not abusive.
• You have budgeted 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD, plus notary, registry and legal fees.

What has changed for 2026

Several rules relevant to off-plan buyers changed recently. None alters the core LOE protections, but each affects the decision around a purchase.

The Golden Visa is abolished

The residence route for investors, including the well-known option of buying Spanish real estate worth 500,000 EUR or more, has been abolished. The Ley Organica 1/2025, de 2 de enero left articles 63 to 67 of the Ley 14/2013 without content, and that repeal took effect on 3 April 2025. Applications filed before that date, and permits already granted, keep their validity and renewal regime. From 2026, buying property no longer grants Spanish residence. If residence was part of your reasoning, that link is gone, and you should plan on the merits of the home alone.

Short-term rental registration

If you intend to let the home short-term, the Real Decreto 1312/2024, de 23 de diciembre created a single registration number through the Registro Unico de Arrendamientos and the Ventanilla Unica Digital. The number, assigned via the Property Registry subject to registral qualification, has been mandatory since 1 July 2025: online platforms cannot list a short-let without it. Factor this into any rental plan for the finished unit.

The new Andalucia Housing Law

Andalucia has a new regional housing law, the Ley 5/2025, de 16 de diciembre, de Vivienda de Andalucia, in force in 2026. It consolidates the rules on protected-housing qualification and on occupation and habitability, including the streamlined occupation route via declaracion responsable. The exact operational detail is worth confirming for your specific municipality and unit at the point of purchase.

Two taxes worth flagging

The municipal plusvalia (IIVTNU) is paid by the seller on a later resale, not by you as an off-plan buyer at purchase, but it is useful background: since the Real Decreto-ley 26/2021, which followed the Constitutional Court ruling STC 182/2021, the taxpayer may use either an objective coefficient method or the real-gain method, whichever is lower, and pays nothing where no increase in value occurred. Separately, high-value buyers should note the state Solidarity Tax on Large Fortunes (ITSGF), which taxes individual net wealth above 3,000,000 EUR, accruing on 31 December each year. It remains in force and is administered on an ongoing basis. Take advice if your net assets approach that threshold, worldwide for residents and Spanish-situated for non-residents.

Off-plan on the Costa del Sol is a sound way to acquire a genuinely new home, on your specification, with strong statutory protection behind it. The work is in the paperwork. Verify the licence, secure the guarantee, tie the money to the milestones, and the render becomes a home you were always protected to buy.