Key takeaways

• The purchase journey runs step by step from first viewing to receiving the keys, so buyers know what to expect and when.
• UK buyers need an NIE number, which can be obtained before travelling or after arriving in Spain.
• A reservation contract and arras deposit commit both parties ahead of completion — check the terms before signing.
• An independent Spanish lawyer carries out due diligence; non-resident buyers can also access Spanish mortgages.
• Completion happens at the notary, where taxes and costs are settled and the property is registered in the buyer's name.

Buying property in Spain — the complete UK buyer’s guide

Buying a home on the Costa Blanca follows a shape English and Welsh buyers don’t expect. There’s no chain, no exchange-then-completion split months apart, and — critically — two separate deposits stand between an offer and a binding commitment, not one. This guide walks through the whole process once, in order, so you know what each stage actually does before you’re asked to sign or pay anything. Each step below links to a fuller standalone guide on that topic; this page is the map, not the last word on any one of them.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice — see the note at the end before relying on any figure here.

The process at a glance

For a UK buyer used to English conveyancing, the closest analogy is this: the reservation contract is roughly your “sales memorandum,” the arras contract is roughly your “exchange,” and notary completion is roughly your “completion” — except all three happen weeks apart rather than on the same day, and each carries its own binding money commitment. There’s no completion “race” and no gazumping risk once arras is signed, because the penalty for a seller pulling out is severe by design.

1. Get ready — obtain an NIE number, open a Spanish bank account, and have proof of funds in order.
2. Make an offer and reserve — agree a price, sign the reservation contract (contrato de reserva), pay a small holding deposit.
3. Due diligence — instruct an independent lawyer to check the property while it’s off the market.
4. Sign arras — pay the 10% deposit under the arras contract; this is the real, legally binding commitment.
5. Arrange finance — if borrowing, secure a mortgage in principle, then a binding offer (FEIN).
6. Complete — sign the escritura at the notary, pay the taxes due, register the property, collect the keys.

A cash purchase of an existing resale property typically runs six to twelve weeks from reservation to keys. A mortgage adds several weeks for lender approval. An off-plan new-build, bought early in construction, runs to 18–36 months from private contract to handover.

Step 1: Getting ready

Three things need to be in place before you can sign anything binding: an NIE number, a Spanish bank account, and clean proof of funds.

The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is a tax and identification number — not a visa, not residency — and every buyer needs one, resident or not. There are three routes: book a cita previa appointment and apply in person at a police station or immigration office in Spain; apply through the Spanish consulate covering your part of the UK before you travel; or instruct a Spanish lawyer with power of attorney to apply on your behalf. The government fee is trivial (€9.84, paid via Modelo 790), but the bottleneck is appointment availability — in high-demand provinces including Alicante, cita previa slots commonly run four to eight weeks out in peak season, while consulate applications typically take six to ten weeks. Using a lawyer with power of attorney is the route most UK buyers under time pressure choose, since it sidesteps the appointment queue entirely, for a typical added cost of €150–€350.

You’ll also need a Spanish bank account — deposits, mortgage payments, direct debits for utilities and the annual non-resident tax return all run through it, and most banks won’t let you complete a purchase without one. Non-resident accounts require your passport, NIE, proof of address in the UK, and evidence of why you’re opening it (the property purchase itself is normally sufficient). Some Spanish banks now let non-residents start the process online, but most still require at least one branch visit to finish it.

Finally, expect anti-money-laundering (AML) questions at almost every stage — from your lawyer, the notary, and your bank. Spanish law requires anyone professionally involved in the sale to establish and document the source of the buyer’s funds; for an individual buyer this typically means recent payslips or pension statements, tax returns, and a paper trail showing where the purchase money originated and which country it’s coming from. Gather this early — it’s far easier to hand over three months before completion than three days before.

→ Full guide on this step: /guides/nie-number-spain (publishing soon)

Step 2: The offer and reservation contract

Once you’ve agreed a price verbally, the next document is the reservation contract (contrato de reserva or depósito de reserva), not the arras contract — the two get confused constantly, but they do different jobs.

The reservation contract takes the property off the market for an agreed window, usually 15–30 days, while your lawyer carries out due diligence. In exchange, you pay a reservation deposit — typically 1–5% of the price, commonly landing somewhere between €3,000 and €10,000 depending on the property value and region. This deposit is usually non-refundable once paid, except where you withdraw for a reason set out in the contract itself (an adverse finding in due diligence, for instance) — so the wording matters more than the size of the sum. It is not, in itself, a fully binding purchase commitment in the way arras is; think of it as buying yourself exclusivity and time, not locking in the sale.

Because reservation deposits are frequently paid before a lawyer has even been instructed, this is the single riskiest moment in the whole process for an under-prepared UK buyer. Never pay a reservation deposit directly to a developer or agent’s personal account, and don’t sign anything you haven’t had translated and reviewed — even informally — before paying.

→ Full guide on this step: /guides/reservation-and-arras-contracts (publishing soon)

Step 3: Due diligence and instructing your lawyer

This is the step UK buyers most often under-resource, usually because the agent or developer offers to “recommend someone.” Take independent legal advice anyway — a lawyer who is paid by, or has a referral relationship with, the seller’s side has a structural conflict of interest, however honestly they intend to act.

An independent abogado will typically: pull and review the nota simple (the Land Registry extract showing legal ownership, boundaries, and any charges or mortgages against the property); check for outstanding debts — unpaid community fees, IBI (local property tax), or utility arrears, all of which can transfer to a new owner under Spanish law; confirm planning and building licences match what’s actually built (a common problem with older Costa Blanca villas with unlicensed extensions or pools); and, for a leasehold-adjacent situation or urbanización, review the community statutes. On a new-build, they’ll additionally verify the developer’s bank guarantee or insurance is properly in place for staged payments (see Step 4).

Typical fees run 1–1.5% of the purchase price plus 21% VAT, though many firms quote a flat fee for a straightforward resale — commonly €1,500–€3,000 — rather than a percentage. This fee is separate from, and doesn’t include, notary fees, land registry fees, or transfer tax. Get the fee and exactly what’s covered in writing before instructing anyone.

→ Full guide on this step: /guides/choosing-a-lawyer-in-spain (publishing soon)

Step 4: The arras contract

Once due diligence comes back clean, you move to the document that actually binds both sides: the arras contract (contrato de arras). This is the Spanish equivalent, in commitment terms, of exchanging contracts in England — from this point, backing out costs real money on both sides.

The customary deposit is 10% of the agreed price, and the penalty structure is set out in Article 1454 of the Spanish Civil Code: if the buyer withdraws, they forfeit the deposit; if the seller withdraws, they must return it in double. That double-return remedy only applies when the contract expressly names the deposit arras penitenciales — left unspecified, Spanish courts default to treating it as arras confirmatorias, which carries no unconditional walk-away right (our arras deep-dive covers this fully). That symmetry is the whole point — it makes gazumping expensive enough that it essentially doesn’t happen once arras is signed, which is a genuine advantage over English chains. The arras contract also fixes the completion date, typically 60–90 days out for a resale.

Off-plan and new-build purchases work differently. Rather than a single arras payment, Spanish law (Ley 20/2015, which repealed the earlier Ley 57/1968 and relocated the guarantee regime into the LOE — Ley 38/1999, Disposición Adicional Primera) requires every payment made to a developer before completion — from the very first deposit — to be covered by a bank guarantee (aval bancario) or surety insurance (seguro de caución) naming you individually. If the development fails or is delayed beyond the contracted date, you can claim back everything you’ve paid, plus statutory interest, from the guarantor — not from the developer’s insolvency estate. Confirm this guarantee is actually in place, and named to you, before making any payment beyond the initial reservation; developer failures where buyers weren’t properly covered are the most common horror story in Spanish new-build purchases.

→ Full guide on this step: /guides/reservation-and-arras-contracts (publishing soon)

Step 5: Mortgages for UK buyers

If you’re borrowing rather than buying in cash, start this conversation early — Spanish mortgage timelines don’t compress well.

Post-Brexit, UK buyers are underwritten as non-EU nationals, and Spanish lenders typically cap non-resident borrowing at 50–70% loan-to-value, against up to 80% for residents. In practice, that means having 30–40% of the purchase price, plus all the purchase costs (typically another 10–13% on top — covered in full in our costs-and-taxes guide), in liquid, provable funds before a bank will seriously engage. Terms also tend to run shorter for non-residents (commonly 15–20 years rather than 25–30), and fixed rates for non-EU buyers were running roughly 4.3–5.2% through 2026 — though rates move regularly and any figure quoted today should be re-checked at application.

The process runs through a mortgage in principle first, followed by the FEIN (Ficha Europea de Información Normalizada) — the legally binding offer confirming the final rate, term and costs once the bank has fully underwritten the loan. For a clean, well-documented application, expect four to six weeks from submission to FEIN, and then a mandatory 10-day reflection period — required by Spanish mortgage law and not something either side can waive — before you’re allowed to sign at the notary. Several Spanish banks (Sabadell, Bankinter, CaixaBank and others) actively lend to UK non-residents; a specialist Spanish-mortgage broker will usually get a faster and more realistic answer across multiple lenders than approaching one bank cold.

→ Full guide on this step: /guides/mortgages-for-uk-buyers (publishing soon)

Step 6: Completion at the notary

Completion day (firma) is where ownership actually transfers. Buyer, seller, both lawyers, and often the estate agent meet at the notary’s office — or your lawyer attends alone, in your place, using a power of attorney if you can’t be in Spain that day. The notary reads out the escritura de compraventa (title deed), confirms both parties’ identities and NIEs, verifies that the agreed price has been paid through traceable means, and both sides sign.

On payment mechanics: Spanish completions still commonly use a banker’s draft (cheque bancario) rather than a same-day bank transfer, particularly for the balance paid to the seller. Your bank issues this against your account in advance — allow one to three working days for it to be produced — and you hand it over physically at the notary’s office, which is what lets both sides complete simultaneously with certainty of payment. Requesting one typically costs €100–€500, and the receiving bank may also apply a processing charge when the seller pays it in — some sources quote this as high as 2–3% of the amount for certain account types.

Once signed, the notary registers the transaction with the Land Registry immediately to block any competing claim, and your lawyer files the full registration application — along with proof that transfer tax has been paid — shortly after. Full registration in your name typically completes within two to four weeks, though it can run longer, up to a couple of months, depending on the specific registry’s workload. You’ll normally leave the notary’s office with a copia simple (a working copy of the deed) on the day itself, which is enough to register utilities in your name while the certified copy and registration complete in the background.

→ Full guide on this step: /guides/completion-day-in-spain (publishing soon)

What completion actually costs

Beyond the price of the property itself, buyers typically pay another 10–13% in transfer tax (or VAT for new-build), notary fees, land registry fees, and legal fees. That breakdown — including the ITP transfer-tax bands, plusvalía, IBI, non-resident income tax, and how new-build and resale costs differ — is covered in full in our companion guide, not repeated here.

Cost item	Ballpark range	Covered in full
Transfer tax (resale) or VAT (new-build)	~8–11.5% (region-dependent); Valencian Community: 9% ≤€1M / 11% >€1M since 1 June 2026 (Ley 5/2025; 11% band from Ley 8/2022)	costs-and-taxes guide
Notary fees	~€600–€1,200	costs-and-taxes guide
Land registry fees	~€400–€700	costs-and-taxes guide
Independent lawyer	1–1.5% + VAT	this guide, Step 3
Mortgage arrangement (if applicable)	~1–2%	mortgages-for-uk-buyers

Frequently asked questions

What are the steps to buying property in Spain? Six in practice: get an NIE and open a Spanish bank account; make an offer and sign a reservation contract; instruct an independent lawyer to run due diligence; sign the arras contract and pay a 10% deposit; arrange a mortgage if needed; then complete at the notary and register the property. Most purchases run six to twelve weeks from reservation to keys.

How much deposit do you need to buy property in Spain? Two deposits, not one: a reservation deposit (typically €3,000–€10,000, or 1–5% of price) to take the property off the market, and the arras deposit (customarily 10% of the price) that’s genuinely binding — forfeited if you pull out, returned in double if the seller does.

Is it hard to get an NIE? Not hard, but it takes lead time. Book a cita previa appointment well in advance (four to eight weeks in busy provinces), apply via the Spanish consulate in the UK, or have a lawyer apply for you with power of attorney — the fee itself is only €9.84.

Is it hard to get a mortgage in Spain as a UK buyer? Harder than for a resident, but routine. Expect 50–70% loan-to-value rather than the 80% available to residents, meaning you’ll need 30–40% of the price plus purchase costs in liquid funds. A specialist mortgage broker generally gets a cleaner answer across multiple Spanish lenders than approaching one bank directly.

How much are solicitors’ fees for buying property in Spain? Typically 1–1.5% of the price plus 21% VAT, though many firms quote a flat fee for straightforward resale purchases, often €1,500–€3,000. Notary, registry and tax costs are separate.

How long does it take to complete on a property in Spain? Six to twelve weeks from reservation to keys for a cash resale purchase. Add several weeks if financing with a mortgage, and think in terms of 18–36 months for an off-plan new-build bought early in construction.

Not legal advice

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, financial or tax advice. Deposit sizes, mortgage terms, fees and processing times vary by lender, notary, region and individual circumstances, and can change without much notice. Always take advice from an independent Spanish lawyer and, where relevant, a mortgage broker or financial adviser before signing any contract or transferring any money. Facts in this piece current as of 7 July 2026.

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