Property news
How buying actually works in each European market, and what changes when you are buying from abroad.34 articles
Non-residents pay a flat 7.5% IMT with no relief of any kind. Two routes claw it back, but the application expires six months after you qualify.
Britain adds 5% for a second home and 2% for non-residents. Germany adds neither: Grunderwerbsteuer runs 3.5% to 6.5%, set by the state, never the buyer.
British owners pay 24% on gross Spanish rent while EU owners pay 19% on profit. But the resale rate is 19% for everyone, whatever you have read.
France charges a British buyer 5.81% to 6.32% in transfer duty, less than an English second home costs at home. Brexit took the days, not the money.
Article 16 of the preleggi is the one real nationality gate in Italian conveyancing. It applies to British buyers, and it is a check by the notaio, not a bar.
Swedish buyers expect open SMS bidding and a 1.5% lagfart. Spain has neither. What replaces them costs more and binds you earlier than you think.
Norway charges 2.5% on market value at registration. Portugal charges a non-resident 7.5% on the deal, and the EEA appears nowhere in that rule.
Paragraph 311b BGB pushes a German purchase through a notary. The Italian compromesso needs none, and Italy takes 9% where North Rhine-Westphalia takes 6.5%.
A Finnish flat is shares in a housing company. A German flat is Wohnungseigentum, governed by a Teilungserklärung, and the transfer tax at least doubles.
A French second home costs 5.81% to 6.32% in transfer duty, under the 8% the Netherlands now charges. And you get ten days to change your mind, not three.
Registering a Danish home transfer costs 0.6% plus a fixed fee. The cheapest Spanish region charges 6%. Here is what else changes, and what does not.
Sweden charges 1.5% stämpelskatt and nothing on a bostadsrätt. Italy charges 9% on a second home, taxed on the price unless you ask for the cadastral value.
In Norway an accepted bid is binding. In Germany nothing binds until a Notar reads the Kaufvertrag aloud, and the transfer tax is set by the Bundesland.
France charges 5.81% to 6.32% in transfer duty on an existing home. That is above Bavaria's 3.5% and below the 6.5% of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Spain has no housing company. A flat is real property carrying the seller's unpaid community charges, and the transfer tax starts at 6%, not at 1.5%.
Non-residents pay a flat 7.5% IMT in Portugal with no relief at all, and the three days to change your mind under Dutch law have no counterpart there.
Registering a Danish transfer costs 0.6% plus 1,850 kroner. Italy charges 9% on a second home, or 2% on a main one. Here is the rest of what changes.
Swedish stämpelskatt is 1.5% plus 825 kronor. A French home costs 5.81% to 6.32% in duty, and buys you ten calendar days to change your mind.
Norway is not in the EU, so Norwegians expect the higher Spanish tax rate. They do not pay it. EEA membership keeps them at 19%, and Schengen keeps them longer.
Non-residents pay a flat 7.5% IMT in Portugal, with no relief at all. The binding moment also arrives long before any notary reads a word of the contract.
An asunto-osake has no Italian equivalent, and the tax shows it: 1.5% at home becomes 9% in Italy, or 2% with prima casa relief. Here is what else changes.
A Dutch buyer gets three days to dissolve the purchase. In Germany the notary reads the contract aloud and the signature binds you on the spot.
Denmark makes you apply for permission to own a home. France checks the deed, not the buyer. And your six days to withdraw become ten free ones.
A Swedish bostadsrätt carries no transfer tax at all. Portugal has no such tenure and charges a non-resident 7.5%, refunded only on a six month clock.
Norway is outside the EU, so Norwegians expect Italy's reciprocity test. It does not apply to them. What applies is 9% registration tax, or 2% on a main home.
Germans buy more Spanish homes by count than any nationality but the British. The Spanish notario looks like a Notar and protects you far less. Here is the gap.
You never owned the flat in Finland, only shares in the company. France sells the flat itself, and the duty goes from 1.5 percent to almost six.
Denmark decides who may own a Danish holiday home. Germany applies no nationality test at all, but transfer tax jumps from 0.6% to at least 3.5%.
Article 7:2 BW gives three days from the moment the deed reaches your hands. Italy gives none, charges 9% on a second home, and keeps the caparra you paid.
Non-residents pay a flat 7.5% IMT in Portugal with no relief at all, against 1.5% at home. Two routes refund it, but the claim expires in six months.
Sweden concludes a sale on a document the parties sign themselves, at 1.5% stamp duty. Germany voids it without a Notar, and charges at least 3.5%.
Dutch buyers are the second largest foreign group buying Spanish homes. The three days to change your mind do not exist in Spain, and the notary is not yours.
An accepted bid binds you in Norway. France gives ten days to withdraw, then charges 5.81 to 6.32 percent transfer duty against your 2.5 percent.
Denmark makes a foreign buyer ask the Ministry of Justice. Portugal asks nothing and charges non-residents 7.5%, refunded only inside six months.