Property Due Diligence in Spain
Property due diligence in Spain checks title, debts, planning, licences and restrictions on the purchase for investors and companies buying buildings, commercial premises or several units. A lawyer in Spain carries out the legal checks and coordinates a technical survey where the building needs one.
First conversation free Reply within one business day
Who Needs Property Due Diligence in Spain?
- Investors and companies buying whole buildings, commercial premises, several units or high-value homes need the lawyer to examine each asset's title, debts, planning and licences as part of the legal due diligence.
- A company buying property in its own name needs the lawyer to check its beneficial owners and whether non-EU control triggers the military-zone rule.
- Buyers completing from abroad or relying on the notary should instruct an independent lawyer who works only for them, as the UK government strongly recommends. The notary is an impartial public official.
A single home purchase with routine checks is handled inside conveyancing, which the Spanish property lawyers page covers. Conveyancing also covers the NIE, the bank account and completion.
What Does Property Due Diligence in Spain Cover?
The lawyer reviews the property, its registry position and the parties to the sale before you commit funds or sign binding terms.
Title, Registry and Catastro
The nota simple is informative only. The certificacion de dominio y cargas covers ownership and all charges in force, and only a registry certificacion proves the charge position against third parties. Informacion continuada keeps information updated for five calendar days. The lawyer checks Catastro coordination. A buyer who acquires in good faith and for value from the person the registry shows as entitled to transfer, and registers, keeps the acquisition even if the seller's right is later annulled or set aside for reasons not shown in the registry. The nota simple guide explains the extract.
Debts That Follow the Property
The lawyer checks IBI receipts and the community debt certificate. Unpaid IBI stays charged on the property as a secondary liability after ownership changes, so the council pursues the seller first. The property answers for previous owners' unpaid general community expenses from the elapsed current year and three previous calendar years. The buyer must withhold 3% of the agreed price from a non-resident seller acting without a permanent establishment and pay it through Modelo 211. The property answers for the lesser of that amount and the tax due if the buyer does not pay it.
Planning, Building and Licence Checks
The lawyer checks planning, occupation rules and any open planning infringement proceedings. Building inspection rules and occupation or habitability requirements are regional and local. A community can approve, limit, condition or prohibit holiday letting by three-fifths of all owners who hold three-fifths of the quotas. An owner has needed express community approval to start tourist letting since 3 April 2025. An owner already letting under regional rules before that date may continue under those rules. The lawyer checks whether that position applies to the property. The tourist licence guide explains holiday-let licences.
Pre-emption Rights and Military Zones
The seller of a property declared of cultural interest must notify the price and terms. The State or another competent public body may buy at that price within two months, or within six months after learning of an incorrectly notified sale. Registrars will not register the transfer without proof that these requirements were met. Foreign buyers need military authorisation in restricted-access zones. EU individuals are exempt. A non-EU company always needs it. A Spanish or EU company needs it if non-EU persons own over 50% or control it. Authorisation counts as granted in national tourist-interest zones, subject to defence limits.
Seller Checks
The lawyer checks that the seller is the registered owner and that the property corresponds to its registered details. The retention covered above applies if a non-resident seller acts without a permanent establishment. The property answers for any special levy left unpaid if the seller is a company resident in a non-cooperative jurisdiction.
Buyer Funds and Beneficial Ownership
The lawyer identifies the client and the client's beneficial owners and checks the origin of the funds, as Spain's anti-money-laundering law requires. A beneficial owner ultimately owns or controls more than 25% of a company's capital or votes, or controls it by other means. The directors are treated as beneficial owners where nobody meets that test.
What Do You Need to Start Property Due Diligence?
- Property details
- Provide the property's full address or cadastral reference so the lawyer can identify the asset and begin the registry and municipal requests.
- Seller and sales documents
- Provide the seller's details together with any listing, sales particulars or documents supplied by the estate agent.
- Draft agreements
- Provide any draft reservation or arras contract so the lawyer can review its terms before you sign or pay a deposit.
- Company documents
- A company buyer should provide its incorporation documents, legal representative details and records identifying every beneficial owner.
- Source of funds
- Provide bank records or other evidence that explains where the purchase funds come from and how the price will be paid.
How Does Property Due Diligence in Spain Work?
-
Describe the Transaction
You describe the property, seller, buyer and proposed transaction in the enquiry form, and you include any documents that you already hold.
-
Receive the Scope
We reply within one business day in English or Spanish with the proposed scope, the information still required and the next steps.
-
The Lawyer Obtains the Records
The lawyer obtains the registry certificacion and IBI receipts, requests the community debt certificate through the seller, and checks the planning position, any occupation licence or habitability certificate that regional or municipal rules require and, for a company seller, the company's registry entry.
-
The Lawyer Coordinates a Survey
The lawyer coordinates an independent technical survey where the building's condition calls for one.
-
Review the Findings
You receive the findings before you sign the arras or pay a deposit. The lawyer identifies any conditions, protections or remedial steps that the contract should contain.
-
Protect the Completion
The notary requests registry information before the signing. The registrar must tell the notary the same day of any new filing that affects the property for nine calendar days after answering.
When Should Property Due Diligence Start?
When to start
Before the arras or any deposit
The review should finish before you sign the arras or pay a deposit because a debt, charge, planning issue or missing document may change the proposed terms or make the purchase unsuitable.
What slows it down
Missing property documents can delay the review. Municipal or community records can also arrive slowly, and a company seller can require further enquiries if its records are incomplete.
What to have ready
Send the property's address or cadastral reference, the draft arras if one exists and the buyer's identity documents with your enquiry.
Property Due Diligence for Investors Buying Several Units
Property due diligence covers every home or premises separately where an investor buys a building or several units in a community of owners. The seller must produce a community debt certificate for each unit at the deed unless the buyer waives it, and the buyer answers with that unit for general community expenses previous owners left unpaid for the current year so far and the three previous calendar years. The lawyer checks each unit's registry entry and IBI receipts and confirms the community debt position for each property.
The lawyer carries out real estate due diligence on each unit separately and checks each unit's charges and planning position.
Describe the Property or Transaction
Send the property address or cadastral reference, the buyer's details and any draft agreement. We reply within one business day in English or Spanish with the proposed scope and next steps.
Common questions
Does the notary carry out property due diligence in Spain?
Is a nota simple enough for property due diligence?
Can I sign the arras before property due diligence is finished?
Does property due diligence check the seller's unpaid debts?
Can property due diligence be done remotely?
What happens if property due diligence finds a problem?
What does property due diligence check when a company buys or sells?
Does property due diligence check whether a holiday let is allowed?
Does property due diligence check military zone restrictions?
Why Work With Advisors in Spain
-
Every lawyer meets the same standard before taking a matter.
We do not take on a matter we cannot handle well. If your matter is not something we handle, we say so plainly.
-
Every lawyer works in English or Spanish.
You explain the transaction once, in English or Spanish, directly to the lawyer who handles it.
-
Coordinated support for related matters.
The due diligence can raise tax and completion questions. We coordinate related requirements, with responsibility and scope agreed for each service.
Contact us
Your request is in
We read every request ourselves, assess the requirements and reply by email with the appropriate next steps.
We review your enquiry today. If you have not heard back within two working days, write to us and we chase it the same day.
The information on this page is checked against official sources and reviewed regularly. It is corrected when the law or official guidance changes, as the Editorial Standards describe.