Germany
The developer instalments are raised against existing German property. Security and law stay German — the Spanish unit cannot yet be charged. Brokerage under §34i GewO.
New-build & construction phase · Spain
Financing a new-build in Spain — the construction phase is the real question.
When buying from a developer, the Spanish mortgage only comes into being at completion. Everything paid to the developer before that is equity — across 18 to 36 months. That gap is what we solve.
Who pays the instalments while a Spanish new-build goes up?
As a rule you do — and that is why new-build purchases fail. A Spanish mortgage only comes into existence once the property is completed, signed off and entered in the Registro de la Propiedad. Until then standard banks release nothing, and after handover the Licencia de Primera Ocupación still has to follow: one to three months by statute, three to nine in practice. Across a build period of 18 to 36 months the buyer has to bridge the developer's instalments from their own capital, typically 20 to 30 per cent of the purchase price. Of the 15 to 20 lenders we approach per case, one pays those instalments directly to the developer during construction (Perini Market Check). The alternatives are your own capital or borrowing against an unencumbered existing property — both belong before the private contract.
The situation
What developer brochures do not explain
A Spanish new-build purchase runs through reservation, private contract and several construction-milestone instalments. In total, often 20 to 40 per cent of the price — spread across two to three years. For that phase, Spanish banks as a rule offer no financing: they will not lend against a property that does not yet exist.
The mortgage comes at the end, at the escritura, once the property is completed, licensed and registered — for non-residents, in practice in the region of 60 to 70 per cent of the lower of price and valuation.
This is why new-build projects rarely fail at the bank. They fail in the construction phase — for buyers whose wealth is not in the account but in a property back home.
Our approachConstruction phase Completion Limits
Two legal systems, one purchase
Spain
At the escritura a Spanish bank takes on the balance — or the developer's mortgage share is taken over by subrogación. BAFA-notified for Spain; in Portugal through a locally licensed intermediary.
Where it does not work
Without German property this bridge does not exist. What remains is own funds or buying a completed unit. We say so in the first conversation — not after the private contract.
New-build pillar
All topics on the construction phase
New-build
Why Spanish banks do not finance the construction phase
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Why Spanish banks do not finance the construction phase →New-build
Financing the instalments to the developer
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Financing the instalments to the developer →New-build
Subrogación: take over the developer's mortgage, or redeem it?
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Subrogación: take over the developer's mortgage, or redeem it? →New-build
Hipoteca de autopromotor: self-building in Spain
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Hipoteca de autopromotor: self-building in Spain →New-build
Timing: mortgage approval after 24 months of construction
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Timing: mortgage approval after 24 months of construction →New-build
New-build or resale? What actually differs
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New-build or resale? What actually differs →New-build
Checklist: what must be checked before the first instalment
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Checklist: what must be checked before the first instalment →From practice
New-build cases from our advisory work
Topic hub
All cases: new-build & construction phase
Case reports on this topic.
All cases: new-build & construction phase →Author & regulatory separation. Content author: Siegfried Perini. Mortgage brokerage in Spain and Portugal is carried out under the §34i GewO licence held by Olga Nikushkina — BAFA-notified for Spain, in Portugal through a locally licensed intermediary. This information does not replace legal or tax advice. The legal review of developer contracts belongs with a Spanish lawyer.
Looking at a new-build? Let us work through the construction phase.
In a free first conversation we establish how much equity the construction phase really demands, what a German bank can raise against existing property, and what is left at completion — before you sign the private contract.