Buying a new-build home in Catalonia: steps, taxes and foreign buyers

The steps, with a real case: Amura

This is how you buy a home in Amura, in Mataró, which is under construction. Every payment counts towards the final price.

1. Information and a meeting. You receive the project sheet, the brochure, the specification of finishes and the floor plan of the home, and you meet your adviser at the Barcelona office or on a video call.
2. Reservation. You sign a reservation contract for the home and its extras (car, motorbike or bicycle space) with a €3,000 + VAT (€3,300) deposit, which is deducted from the price.
3. Purchase contract with a deposit (arras). On signing you pay 10 % of the price + VAT, and another 10 % + VAT at a construction milestone set in the contract (the timber structure stage).
4. Deed and keys. The rest of the price is paid when you sign the public deed before a notary, once the works are finished and the habitability certificate has been issued; you get the keys that day. In Amura, handover is planned for 2028.

If the home is already finished, like the Scala houses in Palafolls, the path is shorter: you visit the house, your adviser presents the documents and the terms, and the deed is signed.

The taxes on the purchase

On a new home bought from the developer, the main tax is VAT; at the deed you add stamp duty (AJD, Actos Jurídicos Documentados), which in Catalonia is managed by the Catalan Tax Agency.

• 10 % VAT on the price of the home. The same rate applies to up to two parking spaces and to the extras bought together with the home (Spanish Tax Agency).
• 1.5 % stamp duty in Catalonia on purchases subject to VAT, paid when the deed is executed (Catalan Tax Agency).
• Notary and land registry fees.

Amura and Scala prices are published excluding VAT (from €609,000 and from €700,687). When you compare developments, check whether the price you see already includes the tax. Your adviser will set out the total for the home you choose.

If you are a foreigner or do not live in Spain

If you are not a Spanish national, the main procedure specific to you is the NIE.

• What the NIE is: the personal, unique and exclusive number assigned to foreigners who have economic, professional or social dealings with Spain.
• Where to apply: in Spain or at the Spanish consular office for where you live, with form EX-15 and the reason for the application; a deposit contract (arras), for example, serves as supporting evidence.
• What it is not: the NIE is not valid for residing in Spain and does not prove residence.
• Remotely: we speak English, Spanish, Catalan and Russian, and the first meeting can be a 15- or 30-minute video call.

If you buy with a mortgage

You can finance the purchase with a mortgage from the lender of your choice. In Amura, most of the price is paid at the deed, when the works are finished.

• The bank must give you the binding offer (FEIN) and the warnings sheet (FiAE) at least 10 days before signing.
• The notary advises you on the loan free of charge, no later than the day before signing.
• You pay for the valuation; the bank pays the notary, the land registry, the processing agency and the taxes on the mortgage deed. In Catalonia, the stamp duty on a mortgage loan is paid by the lender.