Six Spanish Property Purchases We Advised Against — and What Due Diligence Found

Most property articles describe what to buy. This one describes what we told clients not to buy, and why. Six situations, each caught before contracts were signed, each carrying a cost between €9,000 and €180,000 — or, in two cases, an unsellable property. Every one of them looked fine in the listing. That is the point: none of these problems are visible at a viewing, and none of them are the kind a seller’s agent has any reason to raise.

What the six had in common

Before the cases, the pattern that connects them. In every one, three things were true:

• The property showed well. Not one was a wreck. Several were beautiful.
• The problem was in a document, not the building. Registry, cadastre, town hall, community minutes. All obtainable before an offer; none obtainable by looking.
• The cost would have transferred to the buyer. In Spain, most of these liabilities follow the property, not the person who created them.

Case 1 — The extension that did not exist

What it looked like: a four-bedroom villa in the Jávea hills, well maintained, sea view, asking €780,000. The listing described 240 m² built. The property clearly had that.

What the check found: the registry described 185 m². A ground-floor extension of roughly 40 m² and the pool had been built without a licence and never registered. The cadastre showed the pool but not the extension — the two official records disagreed with each other and both disagreed with the building.

What it would have cost: regularising unlicensed works means an architect’s project, a town hall application, potentially a fine, and a notarial declaration of new works to update the registry. Realistically €28,000–€45,000, over six to eighteen months, with no guarantee the town hall approves everything. Until it is resolved, the discrepancy complicates any future sale and can complicate a mortgage.

What we advised: not to walk — to reprice. The works were old enough that demolition was not a realistic risk and the villa was otherwise sound. The client bought at €735,000, with the regularisation cost quantified in advance rather than discovered afterwards.

The general lesson: compare the registry description, the cadastral record and the actual building. Any extension, covered terrace, pool or converted garage that appears in one and not the others is a cost, and that cost lands on the new owner. This is among the most common findings in Spanish due diligence, and it is entirely invisible at a viewing.

Case 2 — The urbanización the town hall never adopted

What it looked like: a detached villa in a quiet inland development, built in 2004, asking €395,000. Roads, streetlights, mains water, a communal pool. It looked and functioned like any other urbanización.

What the check found: the development’s infrastructure had never been formally handed over to the municipality. The developer had dissolved. Roads, lighting and drainage remained the legal responsibility of the community of owners, and the town hall had no obligation to maintain or adopt them. The community minutes recorded a decade of unresolved discussion and a pending resurfacing quotation of €340,000 across 28 properties.

What it would have cost: roughly €12,000 as the buyer’s share of the immediate works, then an indefinite obligation for infrastructure that would normally be public. Resale is materially harder because any competent buyer’s lawyer finds the same thing.

What we advised: against. Not because the situation was hopeless, but because it was open-ended. A quantifiable problem can be priced; an obligation with no ceiling and no counterparty cannot.

The general lesson: in any urbanización, read the community minutes for the last three years and confirm whether infrastructure has been adopted by the municipality. Developments from the 1998–2007 boom are the ones to check hardest, as we note in the Costa Blanca areas guide and the Altea, Polop and Jávea guide.

Case 3 — The beautiful house that cannot be sold

What it looked like: a restored stone finca on a hillside plot with terraced olive groves, asking €520,000. Genuinely lovely. The client fell for it immediately, which is usually when this article becomes necessary.

What the check found: the land was classified rústico — rural, non-developable. The dwelling had been built and later enlarged without licence. It had not obtained the retrospective certification (declaración de obra nueva antigua) that can, in some circumstances, regularise older rural construction. It sat within a protected landscape zone, which made certification unlikely rather than merely slow.

What it would have cost: the purchase price, for an asset the client could not readily mortgage, insure conventionally, extend, or sell to any buyer who ran the same checks. In the worst case, rural dwellings without certification remain exposed to enforcement action.

What we advised: against, unambiguously. This is the one category where we are inflexible, because the downside is not a number.

The general lesson: confirm the land classification before anything else on a rural or hillside property. Urbano and rústico are different worlds legally, and a rústico dwelling without proper certification is not really a property in the sense a foreign buyer assumes — it is a structure on land that was never meant to carry one.

Case 4 — The debt that came with the apartment

What it looked like: a three-bedroom apartment in a well-run coastal block, asking €340,000. Sea view, lift, communal pool. No visible issues.

What the check found: the seller owed €19,000 in unpaid community fees across four years. Separately, the community had approved a façade and waterproofing programme with a special levy, of which this apartment’s share was approximately €11,000, due the following year.

What it would have cost: in Spain, the new owner is liable for outstanding community debt for the current year and the preceding three. Completing without addressing it would have transferred most of the €19,000, plus the full €11,000 levy — around €30,000 on a €340,000 purchase.

What we advised: proceed, with conditions. The community certificate was obtained before the private contract, the arrears were settled from the seller’s proceeds at the notary, and the levy was reflected in a €9,000 price reduction. The client bought a good apartment in a building being properly maintained — which, once the works were paid for, was a point in its favour.

The general lesson: always obtain the certificado de deuda con la comunidad before signing, and read the last three years of minutes for approved or discussed special levies. A pending levy is not a reason to walk; an undisclosed one is a reason to renegotiate.

Case 5 — Renovated, but not licensed

What it looked like: a townhouse in a coastal old town, comprehensively renovated two years earlier, asking €410,000. New everything, sold as ready to occupy.

What the check found: the works had gone well beyond the minor-works licence obtained. Structural elements had been altered and the internal layout changed. No licencia de primera ocupación had been issued following the renovation, and no certificate of habitability was current. Utilities were running on the previous owner’s contracts, which had masked the absence.

What it would have cost: obtaining the licence retrospectively requires a technical report certifying that the works comply with current building regulations. Where structural changes were made without oversight, that certification may require opening up finished work to verify what is behind it. Estimated €9,000–€30,000, with genuine uncertainty at the top end — and until resolved, letting the property legally is problematic and reselling is constrained.

What we advised: against, on grounds of unquantifiability. The seller declined to obtain the licence before completion, which was itself informative. The client bought a comparable property three streets away four months later.

The general lesson: on any recently renovated property, ask what licence the works were carried out under and whether a licence of first occupation was issued afterwards. “It’s all been done” is not an answer. A seller who has done the work properly has the paperwork and produces it readily.

Case 6 — Off-plan without the guarantee

What it looked like: an attractive off-plan villa in a small coastal development, €600,000, with 30% payable in stages during construction. A polished sales office, good renders, a plausible developer.

What the check found: the developer could not produce a bank guarantee or insurance policy covering the client’s staged payments. Spanish law requires that buyer funds on off-plan purchases are secured and held in a designated account, so that money is returned if the development is not completed. The developer described this as being “in process” — a formulation that had apparently been in process for some time. The company had completed one previous project, and the land showed a charge in favour of a lender.

What it would have cost: €180,000 of staged payments unsecured against a developer with a thin record and an encumbered site. Not certain loss — the development may well have completed — but an uncompensated risk. The buyer was being asked to fund construction on the same terms as a lender, without a lender’s security.

What we advised: against, unless and until the guarantee was issued and verified. It was not.

The general lesson: on any off-plan purchase, no money moves before the bank guarantee or insurance policy exists and your lawyer has read it. This is a legal requirement, not a courtesy, and a developer treating it as optional has told you something important. Our off-plan versus resale guide covers the full sequence.

Three walked away, three did not

Worth stating plainly, because articles like this can read as though the job is to find reasons to say no. It is not. Half of these transactions completed.

That is the whole decision framework. A problem you can put a number on is a negotiation. A problem you cannot put a number on is a different property.

The checks that found these

None of this required unusual expertise. Every one of the six was found through checks that belong in any competent Spanish purchase, and they are listed here so you can confirm your own lawyer is doing them.

The last one is newer and worth a separate mention: since Royal Decree-Law 2/2026, transfer tax is charged on the cadastral reference value or the price paid, whichever is higher. A discount below that value does not reduce the tax bill. It is not a defect, but it is a cost people discover at the notary rather than before the offer.

Why a seller’s agent does not raise these

Not because they are dishonest. Because of how the mandate works.

Most agencies in Spain are instructed by the seller and paid from the sale. Their obligation runs to the seller, their incentive is to complete, and the inventory they show you is the inventory they were instructed to sell. Within that structure, volunteering that a property has an unregistered extension is not a service they are engaged to provide. It is a perfectly legitimate model — it is simply not one aligned with a buyer’s interests, and buyers routinely assume otherwise. Our guide to finding a trustworthy agent in Spain sets out how to tell which side someone is on.

The corollary matters too: your lawyer is the one doing these checks, and you should choose them independently. A lawyer recommended by the selling agency may be excellent, but the same structural question applies. Independence costs nothing and removes the question entirely.

What to ask before you make an offer

1. Does the registry description match what I am standing in? Any extension, pool, terrace or conversion not in the registry?
2. What is the land classification — urbano or rústico?
3. Has the urbanización’s infrastructure been adopted by the municipality?
4. What do the last three years of community minutes contain? Any approved or discussed levies?
5. What are the current community fee arrears?
6. If it has been renovated: under what licence, and was a licence of first occupation issued afterwards?
7. If off-plan: does the bank guarantee exist, and can my lawyer read it today?
8. What is the cadastral reference value, and how does it compare to the price?

Eight questions. Any competent Spanish lawyer answers all of them before the private contract. The value of asking them before the offer rather than after is that the answers are still negotiable.

FAQ

What are the most common problems found in Spanish property due diligence?

Unregistered building works are the most frequent by a wide margin — extensions, pools, covered terraces and garage conversions that exist physically but not in the registry. After that: outstanding community fees, urbanizaciones whose infrastructure was never adopted by the municipality, missing licences of first occupation after renovation, and rural properties on rústico land without retrospective certification.

Who pays for unregistered building work on a Spanish property?

The new owner, in almost all cases. These liabilities attach to the property rather than to the person who created them. Regularising an unlicensed extension typically costs €25,000–€45,000 including architect, town hall fees, possible fine and the notarial declaration, and takes six to eighteen months with no guarantee of approval.

Am I liable for the previous owner’s unpaid community fees?

Yes, for the current year and the three preceding years. This is why the community debt certificate must be obtained before signing the private contract, and why arrears are normally settled from the seller’s proceeds at the notary. Do not rely on a verbal assurance that fees are up to date.

Can I buy a house on rústico land in Spain?

You can buy the land. Whether the dwelling on it is lawful is the question that matters. Rural dwellings built without licence and lacking retrospective certification are difficult to mortgage, difficult to insure conventionally, difficult to resell to any buyer who runs proper checks, and in some cases remain exposed to enforcement. Always confirm land classification and certification before anything else on a rural or hillside property.

What is a licence of first occupation and why does it matter?

It certifies that a building may lawfully be occupied, and it is required after new construction and after renovation that goes beyond minor works. Without it, letting the property is problematic, utility contracts can be difficult to place in your name, and resale is constrained. On any recently renovated property, ask what licence the works were done under and whether the occupation licence was issued afterwards.

Do I need a bank guarantee when buying off-plan in Spain?

Yes. Spanish law requires that staged payments made by buyers on off-plan purchases are secured by a bank guarantee or insurance policy and held in a designated account, so funds are returned if the development is not completed. No money should move before that guarantee exists and your lawyer has read it. A developer treating this as a formality to be resolved later has told you something worth knowing.

Is a survey necessary when buying in Spain?

Structural surveys are less standard in Spain than in the UK or the US, and most transactions complete without one. We recommend them on older properties, on anything with visible alteration, and generally on the southern Costa Blanca, where the 1998–2007 building boom produced both careful and very poor construction, sometimes on adjacent streets. The legal checks in this article matter more often than a survey does — but a survey is the one that catches what the documents cannot.

Sources and further reading

• Colegio de Registradores — Spanish Land Registry; source of the nota simple
• Sede Electrónica del Catastro — cadastral records and reference values
• Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana — building regulation and housing legislation
• Generalitat Valenciana — regional planning framework and municipal competences

Where to start

If you are looking at a specific property, the eight questions above are the right first hour. If you are earlier than that, the sequence itself is what protects you — the nine stages of a Spanish purchase exist in that order for a reason, and due diligence belongs before the arras, not after.

The full buying process · Off-plan versus resale · Choosing an agent · Send us a property to look at.