Buying a flat from a developer, step by step
Buying a flat from a developer is not one transaction but a chain of three contracts, which in a Prague project stretches over one to two years. Each of them has a different purpose, a different degree of enforceability and a different moment up to which something can still be changed. This text follows that chain from the reservation to the entry in the Land Registry (katastr nemovitostí) and, for each step, says what is signed, how much is paid and what to check before signing.
What you are actually buying when the building does not yet stand
In the legal sense, a unit (jednotka) comes into existence only when the owner’s declaration (prohlášení vlastníka) is entered in the Land Registry. Until then it does not exist and so cannot be bought — which is why, instead of a purchase agreement (kupní smlouva), a future purchase agreement (smlouva o smlouvě budoucí kupní) is signed. Its subject is a unit described by the project documentation (projektová dokumentace) and the future owner’s declaration: number, storey (podlaží), area, share in the common parts (podíl na společných částech), ancillary spaces (příslušenství).
The practical consequence: at this stage, all you have is a description. Anything that is not in the description you need not receive. That is why, with a future purchase agreement, you watch different things than in an ordinary purchase — not the condition of the property, but the accuracy of its description and the sanction for any deviation.
Three items that must be stated unambiguously in that description:
- The area and how it is measured. Not “approx. 68 m²”, but a specific figure and a sentence stating the standard by which it is measured. The difference between floor area (podlahová plocha) and usable area (užitná plocha) in a Prague flat is commonly several square metres, and at today’s prices that means hundreds of thousands of crowns.
- Tolerance. What percentage of deviation counts as fulfilment and what happens above that threshold — a price recalculation, a discount, the right to withdraw.
- Specification standard. A reference to an annex with specific products or at least with parameters. The wording “the developer’s standard specification” (standard developera) without an annex is empty.
Before you reserve: three things about the project you can find out in advance
The reservation is signed before most people manage to check the project. Yet the order should be the reverse — these are three things you can find out in an afternoon and that change your negotiating position.
Who is the seller and who is the builder. The seller and the builder (stavebník) need not be the same person. Projects are commonly run through a special-purpose company that owns the land. What you want to know is whether that company really owns the land — Parts A and B of the title deed (list vlastnictví) — and whether the person signing the contract is the one who represents it. Both the Land Registry and the Commercial Register (obchodní rejstřík) are public and available online; browsing the Land Registry is free of charge.
What encumbers the land. On the title deed you read Part C — encumbrances. Land under construction usually carries a registered lien (zástavní právo) and not infrequently also easements (věcné břemeno) for utilities. In itself this is not a problem; it is the normal state of affairs. The problem is when the contract lacks the seller’s obligation to ensure that the unit being transferred will be released from the lien by the time your ownership right is entered. This single sentence decides whether you are buying a flat or a flat with an encumbrance. What is read where on the title deed is covered in the text on what to check in the Land Registry.
What the specification really looks like. The show flat is usually furnished above the standard specification — that is legitimate; it shows what is possible. So the useful question at a viewing is not “what does this cost”, but “what of this is in the standard specification and what is an extra”. Ask for the answer in writing, ideally as an annex to the contract.
Reservation: the first step that already costs money
A reservation takes the flat off the market for several weeks, usually for the time needed to prepare the future agreement. You pay a reservation fee (rezervační poplatek) — its amount is set by the developer for the specific project — and it is later counted towards the purchase price.
What matters is not how much you pay, but under what conditions it is refunded. In the reservation agreement (rezervační smlouva) you therefore read three things:
- The reservation period and what happens when it expires. Is it extended automatically? Is the fee forfeited?
- The grounds on which the fee is refunded. Typically when the developer does not present the agreed contract in the agreed wording or within the time limit.
- The wording of the future agreement as an annex. If it is annexed, you know what you will sign. If it is not, you are reserving a flat on terms you do not yet know.
The third point is the one most often overlooked, and at the same time the only one that has any force. A reservation without the attached wording of the contract means that the terms are yet to be negotiated — but with your fee already in the other party’s account. A detailed analysis is in the text on the reservation agreement.
The future purchase agreement: the main document of the whole purchase
This is the most important signature of the whole purchase, even though its name does not say so. The purchase agreement that comes a year later merely fulfils what is agreed here.
What it deals with and what can still be negotiated in it:
Deadline. Not “completion in the 3rd quarter”, but a date to which a sanction is tied. Without a sanction, a deadline is a wish.
Sanction for the developer’s default (prodlení). Usually a percentage of the purchase price for each day or week. You also want to know the cap — a sanction limited to a very low percentage of the price is more a gesture than a safeguard.
Sanction for the buyer’s default. Check whether both sides are set symmetrically. They usually are not; but this can be negotiated.
Conditions for withdrawal. In what circumstances you can withdraw from the contract (odstoupení od smlouvy) and what happens to the instalments already paid. With a long construction period, this is the most valuable provision of the whole contract.
Transfer to a third party. May you assign (postoupení smlouvy) your position to someone else before the building is completed? For an investment purchase, this decides liquidity.
A detailed walk-through of the contract is in a separate text on the future purchase agreement.
Payment schedule: when you pay and against what
With a new build (novostavba), the purchase price is not paid all at once. It is paid in parts against construction stages reached. The breakdown is set by the price list (ceník) of the specific project; in a model example, which the timeline below also uses, it looks like this: ten per cent at the reservation and the signing of the future agreement, twenty per cent after shell construction (hrubá stavba) begins, sixty per cent during construction in two to three instalments, and the remaining ten per cent at the handover of the unit.
Where the money comes from is the buyer’s business; the contract cares only about when it arrives. What matters is something else — what the instalments are tied to. An instalment tied to a date is payable even when construction has stopped. An instalment tied to a documented construction stage is payable only once the stage is actually complete. The difference between these two wordings is fundamental in the event of a delay, and in the contract it takes up one sentence.
The second thing is evidence. For each instalment, the contract should state how the developer will prove that the stage has been reached: an entry in the construction log (stavební deník), a confirmation from the technical supervisor (technický dozor), a protocol. Without this, you pay on demand.
And the third: the final instalment. The amount withheld until handover — ten per cent in the model — is the only tool that still has any effect on the developer after completion. A contract in which the full price is paid before the handover inspection (přejímka) deprives you of it.
What comes with the flat: changes, cellar, parking space and common parts
The purchase price covers more than just the living rooms, and part of it is transferred differently from the unit itself. Two things are worth distinguishing.
Client changes: a window that closes sooner than you expect
Client changes (klientská změna) to the layout, the electrical installation or the finishes are ordered within a narrow window — from the start of preparations to the moment when the relevant trade on site reaches your storey. After the cut-off, everything is either expensive or impossible.
What to check as soon as you sign the future agreement:
- the cut-off date for changes for each trade, not one general date;
- who prices the changes and whether the buyer has the right to refuse the price and stay with the standard specification;
- how the changes affect the handover date — some move the date lawfully and without a sanction;
- what happens to a change not carried out that has already been paid for.
Experience from the projects we manage: the most expensive thing is not the changes themselves, but a decision postponed by three weeks. The cut-off will not wait.
Cellar, parking space and common parts: what is actually transferred
In Prague projects, something else almost always comes with the flat, and the way it is transferred differs from item to item. The difference is not a formality — it determines whether you can sell the item separately, whether it carries its own tax and what happens to it when you decide to sell the flat.
- A cellar storage cage (sklepní kóje) is either part of the unit, or it is transferred as a share in a common part with exclusive use (výhradní užívání). In the second case, you cannot sell it separately.
- A parking space (parkovací stání) in an underground garage is most often a co-ownership share (spoluvlastnický podíl) in a garage unit. The contract should state the specific number of the space and show it on a plan, not just “one parking space”.
- A terrace or a front garden (terasa, předzahrádka) on the ground floor is as a rule a common part with exclusive use, not your land. This means restrictions on what you may build on it.
- The share in the common parts is, unless determined otherwise, calculated from the floor area of the flat, and it determines your vote and your contribution to building management (příspěvek na správu domu). The figure should be in the contract, not a reference to “to be determined”.
Also check whether the parking space and the cage are listed in the contract with the same unit as the flat. Separate transfers mean separate registrations and, in the extreme case, separate fates if something goes wrong with one of them.
Under construction or completed? What you trade for what
The same project is sold at different stages for different money and with different degrees of uncertainty. The decision when to enter it is therefore a commercial one, not a technical one.
Off plan, that is before or at the start of construction, the price is lowest and the choice greatest — you can choose from all the units and you can order client changes. You pay for this in two ways: with money that is tied up for one to two years, and with the risk that the deadline will slip. This is where it makes sense to negotiate sanctions and withdrawal conditions hardest.
During construction, the building can be seen, the deadline is more realistic and the best units are mostly no longer available. The price is usually several per cent higher. The window for client changes is half-open or closed, depending on the trade.
After occupancy approval (kolaudace), you buy a finished thing: you see the view, the light and the actual workmanship, and the transfer takes place by a purchase agreement within a few weeks. You pay the most and choose from what is left — in good projects, by this stage only units with some compromise tend to remain.
Neither is the better or the worse choice. It is a trade of price for certainty, and it works out differently for each buyer. Someone buying a home who has somewhere to live can bear the wait more easily than someone whose lease is coming to an end.
From occupancy approval to transfer
The last six months of the purchase consist of three consecutive steps. The building receives occupancy approval, the unit comes into legal existence, and only then is it transferred.
Occupancy approval, handover inspection and handover
Occupancy approval is an official act that concerns the whole building, not your flat. That the building has received occupancy approval does not mean your flat is free of defects — it means that it may be used.
Several weeks pass between occupancy approval and the handover of the units. The building is given its final clean, the common areas are completed and the developer calls the handover inspections in groups. The handover date is therefore counted from the notice, not from occupancy approval — and the contract should state within what period after the notice the handover inspection takes place and what happens if the buyer does not attend.
What concerns you is the handover inspection: an inspection of the unit during which the handover protocol (předávací protokol) is drawn up. Everything that does not correspond to the contract or the specification belongs in it, even small details. A defect that is not in the protocol is harder to claim — not that it lapses, but a defect detectable during the inspection must be notified without undue delay, and an entry in the protocol is the surest proof that this happened.
Three things that are often forgotten also belong in the protocol:
- meter readings at the moment of handover (electricity meter, water meter, heat meter where fitted) with photographs;
- the number of keys, fobs and remote controls handed over, including those for the cellar, the garage and the common areas;
- the time limit for remedying the recorded defects and what happens if it expires to no avail — where a consumer (spotřebitel) buys from a business (podnikatel), under the Consumer Protection Act (zákon o ochraně spotřebitele) a complaint (reklamace), including remedy of the defect, must be settled within 30 days unless the parties agree on a longer period, and if the seller does not meet it, the buyer may withdraw from the contract or demand a reasonable discount.
It is sensible to come to the handover inspection with someone who does them regularly. A detailed checklist is in the text on the handover of a flat from a developer.
Owner’s declaration: the document that defines your flat
The owner’s declaration is the document by which the building is divided into units. It is entered in the Land Registry, and only with this entry does your flat come into legal existence — until then it exists only in drawings.
When the developer presents it, compare three items with what you bought:
- The designation and description of the unit — number, storey, the defined rooms and their areas. This is where deviations from the project turn up that can still be dealt with as long as the purchase agreement has not been signed.
- The share in the common parts, expressed as a fraction. Unless the declaration determines it otherwise, it corresponds to the ratio of the floor area of your flat to the floor area of all flats in the building.
- The definition of the common parts — what is common and what is in exclusive use. This is where the front garden, the terrace and the cage from the previous section belong.
A difference between the declaration and what was in the future agreement is not always an error; a building is refined during construction. But it is the moment when a deviation is either resolved, or you will be looking at it on the title deed for the next twenty years.
Purchase agreement, escrow and registration in the Land Registry
Only when the owner’s declaration is entered in the Land Registry does the unit come into legal existence and can it be transferred. The purchase agreement and the application for registration (návrh na vklad) are signed.
The money goes into escrow, not to the seller’s account. The balance is deposited in escrow and released only against the entry of the ownership right in your favour. In the escrow agreement (smlouva o úschově) there is only one essential thing to read: the list of documents against which the escrow agent (schovatel) pays out. The more specific it is, the better.
Application for registration. It is filed with the cadastral office (katastrální úřad), together with an administrative fee (správní poplatek) of CZK 2,000; when it is filed online via the Land Registry and Surveying Portal (Portál katastru a zeměměřictví), the fee is reduced by 20 %, i.e. to CZK 1,600. After filing, a Land Registry seal (plomba) appears on the title deed — the letter “P” next to the property concerned. The seal is not a defect; it is information that proceedings concerning the property are under way.
20-day protective period. The cadastral office may not permit registration (vklad do katastru) until twenty days have passed since information was sent to the owner. This protective period (ochranná lhůta) is a safeguard against fraudulent transfers. According to statistics of the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre (Český úřad zeměměřický a katastrální, ČÚZK), the average time to complete a registration in August 2026 was 22 days nationwide.
You become the owner retroactively. The legal effects of registration arise as at the moment the application was delivered to the cadastral office — not as at the date of the decision. The date on the filing stamp (podací razítko) is therefore the date from which the flat is yours.
What happens after the entry is covered in the text on registration in the Land Registry.
Timeline of buying a flat from a developer, with payments
A model course of buying a unit in a Prague project under construction. The instalment ratios are illustrative, not binding — in each project they follow the specific price list.
| Stage | What is signed | What is paid | What to check before signing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choosing the unit | — | — | Area and how it is measured, storey, orientation, share in the common parts |
| Reservation | Reservation agreement | reservation fee (counted towards the price) | Is the wording of the future agreement annexed? Under what conditions is the fee refunded? |
| Future agreement | Future purchase agreement | top-up to ≈ 10 % | Deadline with a sanction, symmetry of sanctions, withdrawal conditions, assignment to a third party |
| Shell construction | — | ≈ 20 % | Is the instalment tied to a documented stage, not to a date? How is the stage evidenced? |
| Construction | Orders for client changes | ≈ 60 % in 2–3 instalments | Change cut-offs by trade, price of changes, effect on the deadline |
| Occupancy approval of the building | — | — | Occupancy approval concerns the building, not the defects of your unit |
| Handover inspection | Handover protocol | — | Meter readings, number of keys, time limit for remedying defects |
| Handover | — | ≈ 10 % | Paid only after the handover inspection, not before it |
| Owner’s declaration | — | — | Does the description of the unit match what you bought? |
| Transfer | Purchase agreement, escrow agreement, application for registration | CZK 2,000 administrative fee (CZK 1,600 via the Land Registry portal) | List of documents against which the escrow pays out |
| Registration | — | — | Seal on the title deed, 20-day protective period, registration completed in 22 days on average (ČÚZK, August 2026) |
Where the real estate representative fits into this equation
An honest note to finish with. In development projects, we represent the developer — that is, the selling side. Our interest is to sell the project, and it is right to say so out loud before the buyer works it out for themselves.
What this means for the buyer in practice: the information about the project, the specification and the deadlines that you get from us will be complete and verifiable, because any inaccuracy would come back to us. But the legal review of the contract in your interest should be done by someone else — your attorney (advokát). This is not a reservation; it is a division of roles. The listings (nabídka) we represent are in the overview of development projects.
Frequently asked questions
Does the buyer pay a commission when buying from a developer? In projects where we represent the developer, the broker’s fee (odměna zprostředkovatele) is paid by the developer and the buyer does not pay it. But check this for each project separately; it is not a rule of the market, it is a matter of the specific mandate.
What happens if the developer misses the deadline? It depends entirely on what the contract says. Delays are common with new builds, which is why sanctions and withdrawal conditions are negotiated at the start, not once they occur.
Will the reservation fee be refunded? According to the reservation agreement. Most often it is refunded when the developer does not present the future agreement in the agreed wording and within the agreed time limit — and it is not refunded when the buyer changes their mind.
When do I become the owner of the flat? Upon the entry of the ownership right in the Land Registry. The legal effects, however, arise retroactively as at the day the application for registration was delivered to the cadastral office.
Can the flat be sold before the building is completed? Only if the future agreement allows it — by assigning the rights and obligations to a third party. Some contracts prohibit it, others make it conditional on the developer’s consent and a fee. For an investment purchase, this is a provision that deserves attention before the view does.
What if the actual area of the flat differs from the one in the contract? The agreed tolerance decides. Within it, the deviation counts as fulfilment of the contract; above it, a price recalculation, a discount or the right to withdraw applies — depending on what has been agreed. That is why, with a future agreement, you read not only the area figure but also how it is measured.
Key takeaways
The whole purchase rests on one document — the future purchase agreement. A deadline with a sanction, instalments tied to a documented stage and a final tenth of the price withheld are the three sentences that decide how the next year and a half turns out.
Sign a reservation only once you know the wording of the future agreement. Do the handover inspection with a protocol in which you write down even what seems trivial. And you are the owner as at the day the application for registration was filed, not the day the notification of completed registration (vyrozumění o provedeném vkladu) reaches you.