New Developments in Alhaurín el Grande

Buying off-plan in Alhaurín el Grande means reserving a villa before it is built, then paying in stages as construction progresses. The developer must secure every stage payment with a bank guarantee or insurance policy. If the scheme fails to complete, that guarantee returns your money. Check the guarantee is in place before you transfer anything beyond a small holding deposit.

You pay VAT rather than transfer tax when you buy a new development from a developer. Transfer tax applies only to resale properties bought from a private seller. A new-build buyer also pays stamp duty on the purchase deed. The exact rates depend on the region and should be confirmed before you exchange, but the principle holds across Andalucía: VAT on the price, stamp duty on the deed.

Before the developer can hand over keys, the town hall must sign off that the building is fit to live in. The developer cannot issue that sign-off and the bank cannot issue it. Only the council can. Waiting for it is the most common reason a completion date slips, so treat any projected handover as provisional until the town hall has inspected.

Most buyers arrange a final inspection a few days before completion. The builder walks you through the villa and you note any unfinished work or defects. Spanish law gives the builder a year to fix finishes, three years for faults that affect how you live in the home such as damp or poor insulation, and ten years for structural defects. The inspection list gives you a record of what was outstanding on the day you took the keys.

Supply in Alhaurín el Grande is spread across the municipality rather than concentrated in a single quarter. Some plots sit close to the town centre, within walking distance of shops and schools. Others lie on hillside sites with views to the coast, near golf courses or forest tracks. The setting varies with the scheme, so confirm what sits around the plot before you reserve.

Assessing the developer matters because you are paying before the villa exists. Look up the company behind the scheme at the land registry and check what it has delivered before. A track record of completed projects tells you the business knows how to see a scheme through. The bank guarantee protects your money if the project fails, but a builder with finished developments on record is less likely to leave you waiting on a refund.

Buying off-plan takes longer than buying resale. A resale purchase can complete in a few weeks once you have the funds in place. An off-plan purchase runs from reservation to handover across many months, sometimes more than a year, depending on how far along construction is when you reserve. The trade-off is that you choose finishes and sometimes layout details, and you see the villa for the first time as a finished building rather than a lived-in home.

The developer sets the payment schedule, and it usually splits the price across three to five stages tied to construction milestones. A typical structure might ask for a deposit on reservation, a further sum when the foundations are poured, another when the roof is on, and the balance on completion. Each payment before completion must be covered by the bank guarantee. On the day you complete, the guarantee is released and you take title.