Buying during construction

New build: the developer wants money, the bank pays at the end

A Spanish new-build purchase rarely fails on creditworthiness. It fails on a gap in the calendar — and that gap is structural, not personal.

Spanish banks pay out a new build only at handover. Before that there is no registrable security, and without the Licencia de Primera Ocupación the deed cannot be signed and the keys cannot change hands. The developer, meanwhile, wants instalments as construction proceeds. Everything in between is advanced by the buyer.

Then comes the town hall: handover including the licence takes three to six months by our own survey, and in some municipalities up to two years (Perini Market Check, 14 July 2026). No standard bank pays during that time.

How narrow is this market? Of 15 to 20 institutions we regularly approach, exactly one pays the developer instalments during construction. One. Ask the others and you get a correct answer — and the wrong answer to your question.

• Before signing — the best moment. The developer's payment schedule can be checked before it binds.
• During construction — still good. The structure works while the property is not yet handed over.
• After handover — a short window remains. Where it closes is set by the bank, not by law.
• After that — you are no longer a buyer who finances but the owner of a paid-off property: as a rule up to 50 instead of 70 per cent of the valuation.

And the case we see most often and can solve least often: people who never bought the new build — not because they could not pay, but because nobody arranged the finance. 20 to 30 such enquiries reach us a year, and rising — and those are only the ones who found us.

The structure in detail: stage payments during construction →

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