New build handover delays on the Costa del Sol: what foreign buyers need to know in 2026

By AmigoFix · May 2026 · 9 min read

You paid a deposit in 2023. The developer promised keys by spring 2025. It is now mid-2026 and you are still waiting, or worse, you received the keys but cannot turn on the lights because the electricity connection has not been completed.

This is not a hypothetical. In Estepona, 72 families who bought apartments in a new development received their finished homes but have been unable to move in because the electricity grid connection was never completed. They have been waiting over a year. The case has been escalated to Spain's national markets regulator, the CNMC.

That story has become the cautionary tale of 2026 for foreign buyers on the Costa del Sol. But the problems it reveals are not limited to one development. They are structural, and they affect anyone buying off-plan or new-build in this market.

Why new build handovers get delayed

Delays fall into three categories, and foreign buyers are usually the last to find out about any of them.

1. The Licencia de Primera Ocupación has not been issued

The Licencia de Primera Ocupación (LPO) is the occupancy licence that the Ayuntamiento issues once a new building has been inspected and confirmed as meeting planning and safety requirements. Without it, utility companies cannot legally connect permanent electricity or water supply.

Developers sometimes hand over keys before the LPO is granted, especially when construction is physically complete but the municipal inspection is still pending. This puts the buyer in a property they technically cannot occupy. They have the keys. They do not have running utilities. The developer points to the Ayuntamiento. The Ayuntamiento points to missing documentation from the developer. Nobody tells the buyer when it will be resolved.

2. The electricity grid infrastructure is incomplete

On the Costa del Sol, new developments in expanding areas such as Estepona and Mijas often depend on new grid infrastructure being built by the electricity distributor, E-Distribución (Endesa's grid arm). The developer is supposed to coordinate this before handover. When the developer delays the grid commissioning or the distributor's timelines slip, finished apartments sit without power.

For an individual property where the LPO exists and the grid is ready, a standard electricity connection takes 5 to 10 working days. When the infrastructure is not there, there is no timeline at all.

3. Construction overruns that nobody reports to non-resident buyers

A foreign buyer in Amsterdam or Manchester receives updates from the developer's sales office. Those updates tend to be optimistic. Genuine construction delays caused by material shortages, subcontractor disputes, or municipal permitting issues are communicated late, vaguely, or not at all. The buyer books flights, arranges furniture deliveries, and schedules handovers that get cancelled at the last moment.

What to check before you sign anything at the handover

The handover of the keys (entrega de llaves) is the moment where you accept the property. Once you sign the acta de entrega, your leverage over the developer drops dramatically. Everything you identify after that point is harder, slower, and more expensive to fix.

A professional snagging inspection covers the building itself, but the operational checks are equally important and often overlooked.

Before the handover day

• Confirm in writing that the LPO has been granted. Ask for the date and reference number. If the developer cannot provide this, the property is not legally ready for occupation regardless of how finished it looks.
• Request written confirmation from the developer that permanent electricity and water connections are active, not temporary construction supply.
• Check whether the Certificado de Eficiencia Energética (energy performance certificate) has been registered. Without it, you cannot complete a mortgage valuation or list the property for rental.

On the handover day

• Photograph all meter readings (electricity, water, gas) with timestamps. If readings are not documented, you risk being billed for consumption during the construction phase.
• Test every installation: air conditioning on both modes, all sockets with a plug-in tester, all taps for pressure and hot water, extractor fans, intercom.
• Check under every sink for damp, loose connections, or missing seals.
• Test every window and door for sealing, locking, and correct operation.
• Inspect the garage, storage room, and common areas included in your purchase.

Defects caught at handover are fixed at the developer's expense. The same defects found three months later become arguments. Found after the one-year LOE finishing warranty expires, they become your problem entirely.

After the keys: the utility setup that nobody coordinates

Assuming the LPO exists and the grid is connected, you still need to register every utility in your name. The developer's temporary contracts will eventually be cancelled, and if you have not switched before that happens, supply is cut without warning.

The list is longer than most buyers expect: electricity, water, IBI council tax transfer, community fee registration with SEPA direct debit, home insurance, and if you plan to rent the property, a tourist rental licence (VFT). Each task involves a different office, different forms, and everything is in Spanish.

For a non-resident buyer who is not physically in Spain, coordinating this remotely is where most people lose weeks and accumulate unnecessary costs. Utilities left in the developer's name for months after purchase is one of the most common mistakes foreign buyers make on the Costa del Sol.

What is different about 2026

Three things have changed this year that make the handover phase riskier than it was in 2024.

First, the volume of new-build completions on the Costa del Sol is at its highest point in over a decade. The corridor between Estepona and Fuengirola is delivering an estimated 2,500 to 3,500 new units per year, and the infrastructure to support them, particularly electricity grid capacity, has not expanded at the same rate.

Second, since August 2025 a valid energy performance certificate is required for any mortgage valuation. Banks now refuse to complete valuations without one, which can delay financing and put arras deposits at risk if the developer has not registered the certificate.

Third, the regulatory environment for tourist rental licences has tightened significantly. The national NRUA registry rejected over 84,000 tourist lets in its first year. A property that could be legally rented on Airbnb in 2024 may no longer qualify in 2026 without additional registration and community-of-owners approval. Buyers who assumed rental income in their investment calculations are discovering compliance gaps at the worst possible moment.

What a professional handover service covers

A snagging inspection by a licensed Technical Architect covers the physical condition of the property: every room, every installation, every finish. But the operational checks described above, the LPO verification, the utility connection status, the energy certificate, and the meter documentation, are equally important and are not covered by a standard property lawyer or estate agent.

The combination of a professional snagging report and a coordinated post-purchase setup is what turns a set of keys into a functioning property. One without the other leaves gaps that foreign buyers consistently fall into.