What buying a protected home really costs

A newly built protected home (vivienda protegida, or VPO) pays VAT (IVA), not transfer tax (ITP). And the rate depends on the home's regime, which is exactly the detail almost nobody checks before signing:

On a €150,000 home, that difference is €9,000. It is worth confirming the regime on the qualification certificate before you do the sums, and not trusting a website that says "VPOs pay 4%": that is only true for some of them.

• Stamp duty (AJD, Actos Jurídicos Documentados): paid when the sale is formalised in a public deed, and each region sets it. On the purchase of a new €150,000 home it ranges from 0% in Euskadi to 1.5%; Cataluña and Cantabria cut it to 0.1% for protected housing, and the Comunitat Valenciana does so for every main home. The first sale of a VPO with a final qualification certificate may be exempt.
• Notary: the deed of sale and, if there is a mortgage, the mortgage deed too.
• Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad): registering the property.
• Agency (gestoría): common when there is a mortgage, because the bank usually requires one to handle the paperwork.
• Valuation (tasación): needed for the mortgage. For protected housing the valuation cannot be higher than the maximum legal price, which surprises people who expect it to "value higher".

On the page of each offer for sale on this site we break down this calculation with that development's actual regime and its region's AJD, instead of applying a generic percentage.

Banks usually lend up to 80% of the lower of the valuation and the price. The other 20%, plus the costs, comes out of your pocket. On €150,000, that is €30,000 of down payment, plus VAT (€6,000 at 4% or €15,000 at 10%) and up to €3,750 of AJD, notary, registry and agency, with AJD counted at the highest rate (1.5%); in your region it may be lower or not payable at all.

That wall is the main reason why people who meet every requirement end up turning down an allocation (adjudicación). And it is exactly the problem the public guarantee tackles.

The ICO guarantee line for a first home (aval ICO, Real Decreto 1/2024) lets the bank lend more than 80% because the State guarantees that part. It is not money you are given: it is a guarantee that replaces the down payment you do not have.

• Up to 35 years of age (or families with dependent children, depending on the type).
• Income below the cap for the province where you buy: since 19 June 2026, from 4.5 to 7.5 times the IPREM (the state income index used to set the caps), €37,800 to €63,000 a year for one person (work out your province's cap). Net assets of up to €150,000.
• The guarantee covers up to 20% of the loan, and up to 25% if the home has an energy rating of D or better.
• It requires prior residence in Spain and that it is your first home.
• The line runs until 31 December 2027.

Besides the state guarantee there are regional grants, which you can check on the grants page. Madrid, for example, has its own first-home programme, and La Rioja applies the Plan REVIVE to its developments.

We do not publish a discount percentage against the open market, because the official averages available cannot be compared with the protected price: they are measured on built square metres rather than usable ones, they average a whole municipality when developments are concentrated in a few neighbourhoods, and they mix new builds with second-hand homes. On each offer you will see its price and its floor area; the comparison with what is being asked today in that particular neighbourhood is one you have to make yourself.

You pay for the discount with flexibility: during the protection period you cannot sell at whatever price you like or rent the home out freely. If you are going to move in three years, that restriction matters; if you are looking for a home to stay in, it hardly ever does.