There is no single "deposit" in a Spanish purchase — there are two, and a mortgage buyer needs a third pot of cash on top. Here is what each one is, how much it is, when it stops being refundable, and how to make sure your money is protected at every stage.
When people ask how much deposit they need to buy in Spain, they usually have one number in mind. In reality there are two distinct deposits at different stages. First is the reservation deposit, a small holding fee — typically €3,000 to €6,000 — paid to take the property off the market while checks begin. Second is the arras deposit, paid when you sign the private purchase contract, which is normally 10% of the price and is the figure most people mean by "the deposit".
On top of that, if you are buying with a Spanish mortgage you need a third pot of cash. Non-resident borrowers are typically offered 60–70% loan-to-value, so you should plan to fund 30–40% of the price from your own money, plus around 10–14% in taxes and fees. Add it all up and the cash you must have available at completion is far more than the headline "10% deposit" suggests.
Each is a different amount, paid at a different moment, with different rules about whether you get it back.
A small holding fee — usually €3,000 to €6,000 — paid to an agent or seller to reserve the property and freeze the price while legal checks start. It is not the main deposit; it is a token of intent that is usually credited against the price later.
The serious deposit — normally 10% of the purchase price — paid when you sign the private purchase contract. Under the most common form, arras penitenciales, you lose it if you pull out and the seller pays double if they do.
If you borrow, the bank lends a percentage and you fund the rest in cash. For non-residents that gap is typically 30–40% of the price, and it must be on the table at completion alongside taxes and fees.
Confusing these three is where buyers get caught out. Some assume the small reservation fee is all they need to commit; others budget only the 10% arras and forget the mortgage shortfall and the purchase costs. Understanding the full sequence — and getting each payment routed and documented correctly — is one of the first things your lawyer should set up. Our conveyancing service maps these payments out before you part with a euro.
The reservation deposit is the first money you pay. It is paid early, often within a day or two of agreeing a price, to take the property off the market and stop the seller accepting a higher offer while your lawyer begins due diligence. The figure is modest — commonly €3,000 to €6,000, sometimes a round €5,000 or a percentage of around 1% — and it is usually set off against the price when you complete. So far, so reasonable.
The danger is in the small print. Reservation deposits are very often paid to the estate agent rather than to the seller's lawyer or a client account, and the reservation document — sometimes called a reservation contract — can be drafted to make the money non-refundable even if you withdraw for a perfectly good reason that the checks later reveal. We have seen reservation papers that quietly forfeit the deposit if the buyer does not complete within an unrealistic timeframe, or that give the agent the fee regardless of whether the sale ever happens. Before any reservation money leaves your account, the document should be read by your own lawyer, the conditions under which it is refundable should be written in, and ideally the funds should sit somewhere accountable rather than in the agent's pocket.
The question every buyer really wants answered is: at what point can I no longer get my money back? The honest answer is that it depends entirely on what you signed and why you are withdrawing. The reservation deposit is usually at risk the moment you pay it, unless the document expressly makes it refundable on certain conditions. The arras deposit is at risk from the moment you sign the private purchase contract — under arras penitenciales, if you choose to walk away you lose it, full stop.
What changes everything is whether your withdrawal is a free choice or the result of a problem the seller is responsible for. If the contract is properly drafted with conditions precedent — the title must be clean, the property must have its licences and certificates, your mortgage must be approved — then a failure on the seller's side, or a problem the due diligence uncovers, lets you withdraw and recover your deposit rather than forfeit it. If the contract has no such conditions and you simply cannot complete, the money is gone. This is the entire reason the private purchase contract matters so much: the words in it decide whether a deposit is a refundable safeguard or a forfeit waiting to happen.
Buying off-plan changes the deposit picture completely. Instead of one 10% arras, you typically pay a reservation fee, then a deposit on signing the contract, then a series of stage payments as construction progresses, with the balance due on completion when the property is finished and licensed. By the time the keys exist, you may have handed over a substantial slice of the price for something that, until delivery, is a building site and a promise.
Spanish law recognises this risk. Money paid in advance for an off-plan home must, by law, be protected by a bank guarantee or insurance policy covering each amount you pay, so that if the developer fails to deliver or goes insolvent, your deposit and stage payments are returned with interest. The catch is that this protection only works if it is actually in place — and developers do not always provide it without being pushed. Before you pay anything on an off-plan purchase, your lawyer should confirm the guarantee exists, names you, and covers the exact sums you are paying. We cover this in detail in our guide to off-plan deposit protection, and it is one of the highest-stakes checks in any new-build deal.
Once you know how much, the next question is how to pay it safely. A deposit is a large sum moving across borders, often into accounts you have never used, on the strength of a contract in a language you may not read. That combination is exactly what fraudsters exploit. The single most important habit is to verify payment details independently — never act on bank details that arrive only by email, and confirm them by a separate, trusted channel before sending money, because email-interception scams that redirect deposits are a real and recurring problem in Spanish property.
Where the money sits matters too. A reservation deposit dropped into an agent's own account is harder to recover than one held by a lawyer or in an accountable client account. Your purchase funds for completion typically pass through your Spanish bank account and are paid at the notary, often by banker's draft. Throughout, your lawyer's job is to make sure each payment is justified, documented, and routed to the right party at the right time — and to stop you paying anything before the corresponding protection is in place. If something about the payment instructions feels off, it usually is; our guide to property scams in Spain sets out the patterns to watch for.
The deposit is the moment a Spanish purchase stops being a browse and becomes a binding commitment of real money. It is also the moment buyers are most exposed, because the pressure to "secure the property" pushes people to pay before anyone has checked what they are paying for. Our job is to slow that moment down just enough to make it safe — not to delay your purchase, but to make sure every euro you part with is protected by the right paperwork.
In practice that means reviewing the reservation document before you pay the holding fee, drafting or vetting the arras and private purchase contract so your deposit is conditional on clean title, valid licences and (if relevant) your mortgage, confirming bank guarantees are genuinely in place on off-plan purchases, and verifying every payment instruction before funds move. We tell you the total cash you need as one clear figure at the outset, we act only for you as an independent buyer's lawyer, and our fees are quoted upfront in plain English, with any extras flagged before they arise. We act for English-speaking clients across Spain.
There are two deposits. A reservation deposit of usually €3,000 to €6,000 takes the property off the market, and an arras deposit of typically 10% of the price is paid when you sign the private purchase contract. If you are buying with a mortgage you also need cash for the part of the price the bank will not lend — usually 30–40% for non-residents — plus around 10–14% in taxes and fees.
The reservation deposit is a small early holding fee paid to take the property off the market while checks begin, often €3,000 to €6,000. The arras deposit is the main deposit — normally 10% of the price — paid when you sign the private purchase contract, and it carries far greater commitment and risk.
It depends on the contract. Under the common arras penitenciales, if you choose to walk away you forfeit the deposit and if the seller withdraws they must repay double. But if the contract contains conditions — clean title, valid licences, your mortgage being approved — and one of those fails, you can usually recover your deposit rather than lose it. The wording of the contract decides everything.
If your purchase contract includes a finance condition, a refused mortgage lets you withdraw and recover your deposit. If there is no such condition and you cannot complete, you can lose the whole arras deposit. This is why a mortgage clause should be written into the contract before you sign and pay.
Arras penitenciales is the most common form of Spanish exchange deposit. It lets either party withdraw, but at a price: the buyer forfeits the deposit if they pull out, and the seller must return double if they do. In effect, the 10% is the agreed cost of changing your mind.
Plan for the deposit, plus the part of the price your mortgage will not cover (around 30–40% for non-residents, or 100% if you pay cash), plus roughly 10–14% in taxes and fees. The "10% deposit" is only one part of the cash you must have available by completion.
Ideally to an accountable client account or a lawyer rather than into an agent's own account, and only after your lawyer has read the reservation document. Money in an agent's personal account is harder to recover, and the document should state clearly on what conditions the deposit is refundable.
Spanish law requires advance payments on off-plan property to be covered by a bank guarantee or insurance policy, so that your money is returned with interest if the developer fails to deliver or becomes insolvent. The protection only works if it is actually in place, names you, and covers the exact amounts you pay — so this should be confirmed before any payment is made.
Yes — email-interception fraud that redirects deposit payments to a fraudster's account is a recurring problem. Always verify bank details independently through a separate trusted channel before sending money, and never act on payment instructions received only by email. Routing funds through a lawyer or accountable account adds further protection.
Yes. A cash buyer still pays the reservation deposit and the arras to secure the property and exchange contracts; the difference is that there is no mortgage, so the buyer funds 100% of the price plus taxes and fees from their own money at completion rather than a 30–40% shortfall.
A reservation deposit is usually at risk from the moment you pay it unless the document makes it refundable. An arras deposit is at risk from the moment you sign the private purchase contract — under arras penitenciales, withdrawing by choice means losing it. Conditions written into the contract are what keep it refundable if a genuine problem with the property emerges.
Yes. We review reservation documents before you pay any holding fee, draft or vet the arras and private purchase contract so your deposit is conditional on clean title and your mortgage, confirm bank guarantees on off-plan purchases, and verify payment instructions before funds move. We act only for the buyer, across Spain, and quote our fees upfront in plain English.
Before any money leaves your account, let us read the contract, confirm the protections, and tell you the real total cash you need. We act only for you, across Spain, in plain English — with fees quoted upfront.
The information on this page is general guidance only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Deposit amounts, the types and effect of arras, mortgage loan-to-value limits, and the taxes and fees on a Spanish purchase vary by region, lender and individual circumstances and change over time. Always obtain advice on your specific property and transaction before paying any deposit or signing any contract. Platinum Legal Spain is an independent English-speaking legal practice — a team of bar-registered solicitors and legal specialists — serving clients across Spain. Fees are quoted clearly in advance and extras may apply depending on the complexity of your matter.