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Have your case checkedNew build · construction phase · Spain
Which bank in Spain pays the stage payments before handover?
The usual ones pay at handover. Until then you bridge — and after the last day on site, the town hall still has its say. We pay each instalment as it falls due.
Who pays the instalments during a Spanish new-build?
As a rule you do — and that is the gap most new-build purchases founder on. Standard Spanish banks release funds only at handover, because the mortgage comes into existence with completion and registration at the Registro de la Propiedad. After that 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 developer's instalments have to come from your 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. The mechanism matters: your equity goes in first, after which the bank covers each instalment in full as it falls due. No instalment is split, and at no point are you left bridging the payment yourself.
The payment schedule every developer writes
- Reservation. A few thousand euros to take the unit off the market.
- Private contract. Once the building licence is in place: the first substantial payment.
- Stage payments. Monthly, quarterly or half-yearly, across the whole build.
- Completion (escritura). Only now does the balance fall due — and only now can a mortgage be registered.
Then comes the town hall. Once the build is technically finished, the Licencia de Primera Ocupación is still missing. Without it there are no utility connections, no notarial deed, no keys — and banks will not approve a mortgage. Three to six months is normal; in some municipalities it drags on for up to two years (Perini Market Check, 14 July 2026). Registration adds more.
Add it up: the developer wants money as the building rises. The bank pays after the licence. In between sit months in which the buyer has to bridge millions — and whoever cannot, does not buy. Not for lack of standing. For lack of cash.
What our lender does differently
The headline is not the ratio — 60 to 70 per cent is the standard ceiling for non-residents, available at any counter. The headline is the bridge: there isn't one. You put your equity in first, sized against the tasación. From then on the bank pays every developer instalment in full, as it falls due, straight to the developer.
- The developer matters. Without a building licence, a bank guarantee (aval) for the sums paid, and a credible completion date, the structure does not stand. The developer's standing is assessed too — not only yours.
- Sequence matters. Sign the private contract first and come to financing afterwards, and the payment calendar is already fixed. Our structure then has to fit round it, rather than the other way round.
- Valuation matters. New-build valuations do not automatically match the asking price. You pay the difference.
- It is not a commitment. All figures are orientation from our brokerage practice — not a commitment and not a guaranteed condition. Whether a case works depends on the property, the valuation and your standing: subject to credit assessment, case by case, no legal entitlement.
Which lender does this is not on this page. There is one, the access took years to build, and it holds only while it stays out of the mass market. You get the name when we set your case up.
Three ways people arrive hereCase 1 Case 2 Case 3
Where do you stand?
All three cases reach us. All three are solvable — but not equally well at every stage.
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Mortgage calculator →Your bank promised — and withdrew
A verbal yes, the valuer comes out, then: we must wait for handover. The reservation is signed, the money is committed, the purchase wobbles. This case reaches us regularly — and it is solvable while the building has not been signed off.
Have your case checkedYou have already paid — and are waiting for handover
The capital is stuck, nothing is registered, there is no mortgage. Even then it is not over: up to 70 % of the tasación can be raised afterwards — even where you went in with far more equity. But the window is narrow.
Have your case checkedThe window. Ideally before handover. Once the building has been signed off, our experience is that only a short window of a few months remains for financing and registration. Where exactly that window closes is set by the lender — it is not a statutory deadline, and we treat it case by case. Whoever misses it is no longer a buyer arranging finance but the owner of a paid-off property. Then only the existing-property route remains: as a rule up to 50 % of the tasación instead of 70 %, with the use of funds tied. Twenty percentage points on a seven-figure sum.
And the case we see most often and can help with least: people who never found us. They did not buy the new build — not because they could not pay for it, but because nobody arranged the financing. That is the gap we close.
Worked example · Ibiza
On Ibiza the bank pays the instalments — not your reserve
Equity in first, then every instalment paid in full from the loan
A couple buys a new-build villa in Es Cubells from a developer; construction takes around 24 months. A standard Spanish bank pays only at handover — and after the build ends, the Licencia de Primera Ocupación still takes 3 to 9 months in practice. Until then the buyer would have to bridge.
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price (= tasación) | €4,500,000 | developer new build, not self-build |
| Purchase costs (approx. 13 %) | €585,000 | IVA, AJD, notary, registry |
| Equity, paid in first | €1,350,000 | sized against the tasación |
| Loan | €3,150,000 | every further instalment paid in full from it |
| Buyer's bridge after the equity is in | €0 | the bank pays when the instalment falls due |
| Bridge in the standard case (until handover + LPO) | every further instalment | out of own liquidity, often for months |
The difference is not the ratio, it is the bridge. In the standard case the buyer carries every instalment until handover — and then waits for the licence. Here the bank pays as each instalment falls due.
And the other side of it: Total loan €3,150,000, secured on the new-build property. Own funds across the transaction: €1,935,000. The disbursement schedule follows the developer's payment plan and the lender's offer.
Note: This worked example is based on typical financing constellations from our practice. All amounts, persons and property data are anonymised or illustrative. It is not a customer testimonial. Every financing is assessed individually against personal standing, the property valuation (tasación) and the lender's own criteria.
Region: Property finance in Ibiza
Free guide
Financing new-build stage payments — Spain — the guide as a PDF
How the structure works, what breaks it, which documents the lender wants to see and in which order to proceed. Free, by email, no upfront cost.
What is inside:
- Disbursement · each instalment in full, while the building goes up
- Equity · paid in first, sized against the tasación
- Recipient · straight to the developer
- Property type · developer new build (obra nueva) — not self-build
- Lenders writing this · 1 of 15–20 approached (Perini Market Check 07/2026)
Open the PDF directly — no form · Financing new-build stage payments — Spain (PDF)
All figures are orientation from our brokerage practice — not a commitment and not a guaranteed condition. Whether a case works depends on the property, the valuation and your standing: subject to credit assessment, case by case, no legal entitlement.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the Spanish bank only pay at completion?
Because an unfinished property cannot be conveyed before a notary and therefore cannot carry a mortgage. Without registrable security there is no loan. The mortgage comes into existence with completion and entry in the Registro de la Propiedad.
How much must I pay during construction in Spain?
Typically 20 to 30 per cent of the purchase price: reservation, a payment on signing the private contract, and instalments as building progresses. The remainder falls due at completion and is usually covered by the mortgage.
Is this the same as a self-build mortgage (autopromoción)?
No. Autopromoción is self-build on your own plot; staged disbursement is standard there and several lenders offer it. This is a purchase from a developer, where the buyer normally funds the construction period personally.
Do I need to bring equity?
Yes, and it comes first. The amount depends on the tasación (valuation). Only after that does the bank take over each instalment in full — nothing is split, nothing is deferred.
Can I take over the developer's mortgage instead (subrogación)?
Often, yes — but it also only applies from handover. It doesn't solve the construction-period problem, it just shortens the path to final financing. And since the 2019 reform it's no longer automatically the cheaper option; it needs to be compared against the alternative.
Isn't a bank guarantee (aval bancario) enough on its own?
No — it answers a different question. An aval bancario or surety bond protects the instalments you've already paid: if the developer fails, that money comes back. The instalments themselves still have to be paid from your own funds in the meantime. Financing those instalments during construction — the subject of this page — is a separate, second step.
I've already paid some instalments. Is it too late?
Not necessarily — but the later you start, the tighter it gets. What's already gone out can't be restructured; only what's still to come can be. Get in touch with your payment schedule and we'll see what's still workable.
Before you sign the private contract
Send us the developer's payment schedule and the key facts of the property. We will tell you whether the structure holds in your case — beforehand, not afterwards.
Have your payment plan checkedRelated: Release capital from an existing property · all three structures