Notary, Land Registry and lawyer fees when you buy a new build in Spain

The taxes on a new home are IVA at 10% (IGIC at 7% in the Canary Islands), paid to the developer with each payment, and AJD on the deed, at a regional rate between 1% and 2%. The rest of the closing costs are fees for services:

As a planning figure, our calculators use about 0.8% of the price for notary and registry together and about 1% plus 21% VAT for the lawyer. These are estimates, not tariffs: compare them with real quotes in the purchase cost calculator.

In Spain the sale is completed by signing an escritura pública before a notary. The notary's fee follows a regressive official scale based on the value in the deed, plus a charge per page and per copy, so it rises with the price but much more slowly. The notary also checks identities, your NIE, the source of funds and the registry position on the day.

The deed is then presented at the Land Registry so that you appear as owner and your title is protected against third parties. Registration fees also follow an official scale based on value. Your lawyer should check the Nota simple before signing and confirm the registration afterwards.

Under article 1455 of the Civil Code, unless the parties agree otherwise, the seller pays for the original deed and the buyer pays for the first and later copies. In practice the purchase contract allocates these costs, so read the clause.

When you buy from a developer as a consumer, Spanish courts have treated as abusive clauses that make the buyer pay costs that by their nature belong to the developer. Examples cited include:

• The deeds of new construction (obra nueva) and horizontal division that create the individual homes.
• Setting up, dividing or cancelling the developer's own construction loan.
• Plusvalía municipal, the municipal tax on the land's increase in value, which on a sale is due from the seller.

If the contract includes such charges, or vague 'administration' or connection fees, ask your lawyer whether they can lawfully be passed on before you sign the purchase contract.

A mortgage adds its own deed. Under Ley 5/2019 the lender pays the notary's fee for the mortgage deed, registering the mortgage, and the gestoría, and since November 2018 the lender pays the AJD on the mortgage deed. You pay the valuation and any copies you request. Details in non-resident mortgages on a new build.