Legal content last updated: 1 October 2026
The six stages of a Tenerife purchase
Spanish purchases move faster than English ones and there is no chain, no survey culture and no solicitor acting for the lender to catch problems. Once you sign the deposit contract your money is at risk, so every check belongs before that signature.
- 1. Reservation — We review the reservation document before you pay anything, check who legally owns the property and make the deposit conditional on clean due diligence.
- 2. NIE and banking — We obtain your NIE numbers and help set up the Spanish account used for the notary cheques and utility direct debits.
- 3. Due diligence — Land Registry Nota Simple, outstanding mortgages and embargoes, community fee certificate, IBI receipts, licence of first occupation and catastro match.
- 4. Deposit contract (arras) — We draft or renegotiate the contract: price, fixtures, completion date, penalties and what happens if a charge is discovered late.
- 5. Notary completion — We attend the notary with you, or sign under power of attorney, check the deed line by line and hand over the bank drafts.
- 6. Taxes and registration — We pay ITP or IGIC plus AJD within the deadline, register the deed at the Land Registry and transfer utilities and the community account into your name.
What we do at each stage
You get one named lawyer for the whole file. We never take instructions from the estate agent or the developer, and we never receive commission from either. Every document you are asked to sign is explained in English before it goes in front of a notary.
Fees and costs
Budget roughly 10–12% on top of the purchase price for a resale and 9–11% for a new build. Our own fee starts from €2,000 plus IGIC, depending on the characteristics and complexity of the transaction, and is agreed in writing before we start. Use the property taxes and fees calculator for a breakdown against your budget.
Before you pay a reservation deposit
Ask for the Nota Simple, the community fee certificate and the last IBI receipt. If the agent cannot produce them, that is the moment to call a lawyer — not after the money has left your account. Our property due diligence checklist sets out everything we verify.
Resale or new build: what changes legally
A resale is taxed with ITP and its risks sit in the past: debts, unlicensed works and old charges. A new build or off-plan purchase is taxed with IGIC and AJD and its risks sit in the future: delays, unfinished common areas and an unissued licence of first occupation. Off-plan buyers should never pay staged instalments without an individual bank guarantee for each payment.
Buying with a Spanish mortgage
The bank sets the pace once a mortgage is involved. Expect a valuation, proof of income translated into Spanish and a mandatory meeting with the notary before signing, at which the notary checks you understand the loan terms. We review the binding offer (FEIN) and coordinate the signing so that purchase and mortgage complete on the same day.
Whose name goes on the deed
Buying jointly, alone, or through a company changes your tax position and what happens on death. Spain applies forced heirship rules unless the owner's nationality law is chosen in a will, so the choice belongs at the start of the purchase, not at the notary. We explain the options for couples, families and investors before the deposit contract.
Holiday lets and residential use
Many buyers in Tenerife South plan to let the property when they are not using it. Whether that is lawful depends on the zoning, the building's statutes, any touristic exploitation agreement and the Canary Islands holiday-let rules. We check all four before you sign, and tell you plainly if the plan does not work.
Buying without travelling to Spain
With a purchase-specific power of attorney, signed before a notary in your country and apostilled, we can obtain your NIE, sign the arras and complete on your behalf. See how conveyancing in Spain works remotely.