Buying a second-hand home from a private owner and buying a brand-new property from a developer look similar on the surface. Legally and on tax they are two different transactions, with different costs, different risks and different checks. Here is how resale and new build really compare in Spain — so you can choose the right path with your eyes open.
When most buyers weigh up resale versus new build in Spain, they think about character versus something fresh and modern. Those differences are real, but they are not the ones that decide how much tax you pay, what can go wrong, or how protected your money is. The genuine divide is legal. A resale is a contract with a private owner for a property that already exists, with a past you have to investigate; a new build is a contract with a developer, often for a property not yet finished, where the risks are about completion, licences and the company you are paying. That distinction runs through everything — the taxes, the documents you check, the way the money flows, and the protections the law gives you. Get the category right and you brief the correct due diligence and budget the correct taxes; get it wrong and you can under-budget by thousands or skip the very checks meant to protect you.
A side-by-side of the legal and tax points that actually change your decision. Each row is explained in full below.
| The point | Resale (second-hand) | New build (from a developer) |
|---|---|---|
| Who you contract with | A private owner — an individual or, sometimes, a company selling an existing asset. | A property developer or promoter, a business whose financial health directly affects your purchase. |
| Main purchase tax | Transfer Tax (ITP), a regional percentage of the price, paid by the buyer. | VAT (IVA) at 10% on the home, plus Stamp Duty (AJD) at the regional rate. |
| What the tax is charged on | The higher of the price and the valor de referencia. | The actual price agreed with the developer. |
| Condition of the property | Existing — you inspect what is physically there, defects and all. | Often off-plan or newly finished — you rely on plans, specifications and guarantees. |
| Core legal checks | Title, charges, debts, community status, licences and planning on an existing property. | Developer solvency, building licence, first-occupation licence, and the structure of the contract. |
| How you pay | Usually a deposit then the balance on completion, in a fairly short window. | Stage payments through the build, with the balance on completion. |
| Protection for your money | Standard conveyancing protections; deposit handling on a single completion. | Mandatory bank guarantee or insurance for off-plan deposits and stage payments. |
| Defect protection after purchase | Limited — generally as-is, subject to any seller liability for hidden defects. | Statutory builder guarantees of 1, 3 and 10 years under the Building Act (LOE). |
| Timing to move in | Fast — typically move-in-ready once completion happens. | Slower — often a 12 to 24 month build before completion on off-plan. |
| Room to negotiate | Often more flexible — motivated private sellers, condition-based bargaining. | Usually firmer pricing, though incentives and extras are common. |
The clearest dividing line is tax, and it is the first thing to get right because it moves your budget meaningfully. Buying a resale property means paying Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales (ITP), the transfer tax — a single percentage of the value, set by each autonomous community, and paid by the buyer. Since 2022 the base is not simply the price but the higher of the price you pay and the property's valor de referencia, the value the Catastro assigns. Pay below that reference value on a resale and you can still be taxed as though you paid it.
A new build is taxed completely differently. The first delivery of a new home is subject to VAT (IVA) — currently 10% for residential property — charged on the actual price, plus Stamp Duty (AJD), the documented-legal-acts tax, at the regional rate. There is no ITP on a new build, and the valor de referencia floor does not apply in the same way, because the tax follows the real price. The two routes can therefore carry noticeably different tax loads, and you cannot estimate one from the other. We set the mechanics out in full in our guide to ITP vs IVA and AJD in Spain, which should be your first stop before you compare two properties on price alone.
A new build, and especially an off-plan purchase, reverses the risk. The property's past is short — there is no decades-old title history to untangle — but you may be paying substantial sums for something that does not yet physically exist, to a company whose future matters enormously to you. The legal work shifts from investigating a property to protecting your payments and confirming the project is, and will remain, legal.
The first question is who you are dealing with. You check the developer's solvency and track record — its financial standing, whether it has completed similar projects, and whether it has the legal right to sell the land and build on it. A developer that runs into trouble mid-build is the single largest risk in an off-plan purchase, so this check comes before you part with money. The second question is whether the project is legal: a development must have a valid building licence (licencia de obra) authorising the construction, and on completion the first-occupation licence (licencia de primera ocupación) confirming the finished building matches what was approved and can lawfully be occupied and connected to utilities. Completing before that licence is issued is a classic way buyers end up with a property they cannot legally occupy.
On an off-plan purchase you do not pay once at the end — you pay in stages as the build progresses, from a reservation and deposit through agreed instalments until completion. That suits the developer's cash flow, but it means your money is at risk for months or years before you receive anything physical in return. Spanish law recognises that risk and addresses it directly.
Any developer taking advance payments for an off-plan home must guarantee those amounts. Every sum you pay before completion has to be covered by a bank guarantee or insurance policy, and your payments should go into a special, segregated account. If the developer fails to deliver — the project is abandoned, the company collapses, or the home is never completed — you are entitled to recover what you paid, plus interest, under that guarantee. This protection comes from the building legislation (the additional provision of Law 38/1999, the Building Act, as amended by Law 20/2015) and is one of the strongest safeguards in Spanish property law. But it only works if it is actually in place: a guarantee that was never issued, or money paid into the developer's ordinary account, leaves you exposed.
The two routes also feel very different to live through. A resale is usually move-in-ready — once you complete you have the keys to a finished home, and the process from offer to completion can run in weeks. An off-plan new build is the opposite: you may be committing today to a property not finished for twelve to twenty-four months, paying in stages while you wait. Negotiation differs too — a private resale seller's price is often genuinely negotiable, especially where the property needs work, while a developer's headline price tends to be firmer, though incentives and upgrades are worth negotiating. Neither route is universally cheaper or safer; the right question is not "which is better" but "which is right for this buyer, this budget and this property" — the judgement we help clients make as part of buying and selling property in Spain.
Because the risks differ, the due diligence differs. Briefing the wrong checks — or assuming one standard conveyancing process covers both equally — is where unrepresented buyers come unstuck. A resale turns on investigating the existing property; a new build turns on protecting your money and confirming the project is legal.
Whichever route you take, this is structured legal work, not a formality — the same independent, buyer-side diligence we apply across our Spanish property legal services. For a fuller walk-through of the investigation itself, see our guide to property due diligence in Spain.
Deciding between resale and new build is, at heart, a lifestyle and budget question. But the moment you choose a specific property, the legal and tax differences become very real — and they are the part most foreign buyers cannot safely judge alone. A resale needs a thorough investigation of an existing property's title, charges, community and licences; a new build needs the opposite focus — the developer's solvency, the building and first-occupation licences, and watertight bank guarantees over every stage payment. The wrong assumption about which transaction you are in is how buyers either overpay tax or skip a protection the law put there for them.
Our role is to make the right checks happen for the path you choose and the costs visible before you commit. We act only for the buyer, in plain English, and tailor the diligence to whether you are buying second-hand or off-plan. We confirm the tax that actually applies — ITP, or IVA plus AJD — and build it into your real cost of buying property, with specific guidance on buying an apartment in Spain. Where work falls outside a clear initial scope we explain what it involves and quote for it; extras may apply depending on the property and the complexity of the matter. With fifteen years' experience helping expats buy in Spain, our aim is simple: that you understand exactly which kind of purchase you are making and that nothing in it can surprise you later.
The core difference is legal, not cosmetic. A resale is a purchase from a private owner of an existing property, taxed with Transfer Tax (ITP), where the work is investigating the property's title, charges and licences. A new build is a purchase from a developer, taxed with VAT (IVA) plus Stamp Duty (AJD), where the work is confirming the developer's solvency, the licences, and the bank guarantee protecting your stage payments.
A resale (second-hand) purchase is subject to Transfer Tax (ITP), a regional percentage charged on the higher of the price and the valor de referencia. A new build from a developer is subject to VAT (IVA) at 10% on the home, plus Stamp Duty (AJD) at the regional rate, both charged on the actual price. There is no ITP on a new build.
Not necessarily, but the tax loads differ and you cannot estimate one from the other. New builds carry IVA at 10% plus AJD, while resales carry a single ITP rate that varies by region. Depending on the region and the property, either route can work out higher. The right approach is to model the correct tax for each specific property rather than compare headline prices alone.
It is a mandatory protection for your money. Any developer taking advance payments for an off-plan home must cover every sum you pay before completion with a bank guarantee or insurance policy, with payments going into a segregated account. If the developer fails to deliver, you can recover what you paid plus interest. The protection comes from the Building Act (Law 38/1999, as amended by Law 20/2015), but it only protects you if it is actually in place.
Two are critical. The building licence (licencia de obra) authorises the construction and should exist before you commit money. The first-occupation licence (licencia de primera ocupación) confirms the finished building matches what was approved and can be lawfully occupied and connected to utilities — you should not complete and take the keys before it is issued.
Under Spain's Building Act (the LOE), a new home carries three statutory defect-liability periods: one year for finishing and snagging defects, three years for defects affecting habitability such as installations and water ingress, and ten years for structural defects affecting the building's stability. A resale does not come with these guarantees and is generally bought as-is.
The biggest risk is that the developer runs into financial trouble and the project is delayed or never finished. That is why you check the developer's solvency and track record before paying, confirm the building licence, and ensure every stage payment is covered by a valid bank guarantee. The other risk is completing before the first-occupation licence is issued, which can leave you with a home you cannot legally occupy.
A resale is usually move-in-ready, so the process from offer to completion can take a matter of weeks. An off-plan new build is far slower — you may be committing today to a property that will not be finished for twelve to twenty-four months, paying in stages while you wait for the build to complete.
There is generally more flexibility on a resale, because you are dealing with a private owner whose price may be negotiable — especially where the property needs work or the seller is motivated. Developers tend to hold their headline prices firmer, although incentives, upgrades and included extras are common and worth negotiating.
We act only for the buyer and tailor the diligence to whether you are buying resale or off-plan. Because the scope depends on the property and its complexity, we quote for your specific transaction rather than apply a single figure, and we tell you what any additional work involves before it is done. Extras may apply depending on the property. We act for English-speaking clients across Spain and explain everything in plain English.
The right choice depends on the property — but the checks and taxes depend on which transaction you are really in. We confirm that, run the diligence each path needs, and protect your money. In plain English, across Spain.
The information on this page is general guidance only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. The taxes on property purchases — Transfer Tax (ITP), VAT (IVA) and Stamp Duty (AJD) — together with the rules on developer guarantees, licences and the statutory defect-liability periods under the Building Act (LOE), are set out in legislation that changes over time and varies between Spain's autonomous communities. Always obtain advice on your specific property and circumstances before acting. Platinum Legal Spain is an independent English-speaking legal practice serving clients across Spain.