When to launch sales: off-plan sale, announcement, occupancy approval
Launching sales of a development project is a choice between two discomforts: entering the market earlier and cheaper, or later and with more certainty. In practice, the date is set not by deliberation but by when the visualisations arrive. This text describes the three possible entry points and what each of them costs, and it ends with a decision diagram that can be applied to a specific project.
Launching sales of a development project has three entry points, not one date
“Launching sales” sounds like a single date. It is three decisions, and each is paid for with something different.
Off-plan sale (předprodej). Selling off-plan (prodej z papíru) to a narrow circle of prospective buyers, without a public price list (ceník) and without a campaign. Units are offered from drawings: site plan (situace), dimensioned floor plan, a price list sheet with the version date.
Announcement (ohlášení). The day the price list goes out — website, property particulars (expozé), advertising. From that moment the price is public, comparable and ages in full view of the market.
Occupancy approval (kolaudace). Selling completed units. The buyer can touch the windowsill, measure the room and hear the street.
One terminological trap: announcement here means announcing the project to the market, not notification of a building (ohlášení stavby). The institution of building notification was abolished by the new Building Act (stavební zákon) — since 1 July 2024, projects have been divided into those that are not notified to the authority and those that it must permit. The time limit for a decision is 30 days for simple buildings and 60 days for others.
What must be ready before the first price is released
Five things must exist before entering the market. Not as an intention, but as a set of documents that can be sent in a single email.
- A unit numbering that will no longer change. The unit number (číslo jednotky) on the unit sheet (karta jednotky), in the price list and in the future owner’s declaration (prohlášení vlastníka) must be the same number. If they diverge, the sale stalls not with the buyer but with the attorney (advokát).
- An area calculation with the method stated. The unit sheet must say what the area is measured from and how a balcony (balkon) or terrace (terasa) is counted in it. Without that, every deviation after the completion survey becomes a negotiation.
- A price list with a version date and validity. A price list without a date becomes unmanageable after the third email, because nobody knows which version is the one the negotiations were based on.
- A date that can bear becoming a commitment. Whatever is in the schedule (harmonogram) ends up in the contract as the latest date for concluding the purchase agreement (kupní smlouva).
- Energy performance certificate (průkaz energetické náročnosti, PENB). The owner must present the energy performance certificate of the building to a prospective buyer before concluding contracts relating to the purchase and hand it over to the buyer at the latest when the purchase agreement is signed; for an off-plan project it is prepared from the project documentation (projektová dokumentace). Failure to comply carries a fine of up to CZK 200,000 for an individual as well as for a legal entity or a self-employed person. The exception for buildings with less than 50 m² of total energy reference area (energeticky vztažná plocha) does not apply to a residential building (bytový dům).
Off-plan sale of flats: what you pay for an early price
An off-plan sale of flats is an exchange of risks. The buyer buys a description of a unit, not a unit, and bears the risk of the date slipping; the developer compensates them with the price. The discount is calculated against the price list with which the project later goes public, and its depth should match the risk the buyer takes on.
In the future purchase agreement (smlouva o smlouvě budoucí kupní), this means specific fields: unit number, storey (podlaží), floor area (podlahová plocha), share in the common parts (podíl na společných částech) and ancillary spaces (příslušenství) listed by number (parking space number, cellar number). A deviation in area calls for three numbers, not a sentence: what percentage is tolerated with no effect on the price, from what percentage the price is recalculated retrospectively, and at what deviation the buyer may withdraw.
We do not send the advance payment (záloha) from an off-plan sale to the developer’s account but into attorney or notarial escrow (advokátní úschova, notářská úschova), with a release condition described by an event and a time limit — not by the phrase “after completion”. For the developer this is uncomfortable, because the money sits idle. But it is the only version of an off-plan sale we can defend to the buyer, and that is why we put it into the brief before the first price negotiation opens.
Announcement: the day the price list becomes a public fact
From the announcement, a visible clock is running. A project that sits in the adverts unchanged is remembered by buyers at the third viewing not by its layout (dispozice) but by the fact that it is not selling — and they stop waiting for a unit and start waiting for a discount.
From this follows the order we keep to: the first public price list rather one notch lower, with a planned sales release (prodejní vlna) upwards. Raising the price is possible; lowering it practically is not, because a discount also affects those who have already bought, and they will be talking to each other in the lift for another ten years.
Three things are measured from the first day: the number of enquiries per unit, the ratio of viewings to reservations and the distribution of demand across layouts. Without them, raising prices release by release is just a guess with a table.
Selling after occupancy approval: the safest and most expensive option
After occupancy approval, most objections disappear, because most of the uncertainty disappears. It is paid for three times.
The project enters the market without a single piece of demand data: the price list was built from an estimate, and the first feedback is either silence or a queue. For unsold units the developer pays the contributions to building management (příspěvek na správu domu) and property tax (daň z nemovitých věcí) — the tax return is filed by 31 January of the tax period (zdaňovací období), so units that have not passed to buyers by the end of the year remain in the developer’s return for the following year as well. And a finished building with unsold units is a negotiating position for the buyer, which every further month strengthens.
Even so, it makes sense for small projects, for an atypical product and where the schedule is so uncertain that a binding date in the contract would be a gamble. But the context has to be taken into account: in the 2nd quarter of 2026, construction of 2,788 flats started in Prague and, according to preliminary data from the Czech Statistical Office (Český statistický úřad, ČSÚ), 1,240 were completed. That difference is stock that has yet to make its way onto the market — anyone who waits for occupancy approval will meet all of it there.
Model calculation: when the off-plan discount pays back
A model project with 40 units, an average floor area of 62 m², a target price of CZK 170,000/m². The average unit is therefore CZK 10,540,000.
- Off-plan sale: in the model, 12 units at a 6 % discount. 12 × 10,540,000 = CZK 126,480,000, discount CZK 7,588,800.
- That leaves 28 units, i.e. CZK 295,120,000 in the price list.
- For the discount to pay back, the price list on the remaining units must come out 7,588,800 / 295,120,000 = 2.6 % higher than it would have without the off-plan sale.
- With a price rise of 3 %, the balance is 8,853,600 − 7,588,800 = +CZK 1,264,800.
That 2.6 % threshold is the whole point of an off-plan sale. Below it, it is just a cheaper sale with a better feeling.
For comparison: holding 28 unsold units for six months costs CZK 468,720 at the model management contribution of CZK 45/m² per month. Waiting is therefore cheaper than the discount. With an off-plan sale you are not paying for time but for information — and it pays back only for those who genuinely reflect that information in the price list.
Where our approach has a weak spot
We tend to launch an off-plan sale before the schedule is stable, because early reservations give the price list data we have no other way of obtaining. The developer pays for that data with the date: once the latest date for concluding the purchase agreement has been signed, a construction delay stops being a delay and becomes a breach of contract. For projects where the permit (povolení záměru) has only just come through, this is a risk we carry badly, because the actual length of the proceedings cannot be read in advance from the statutory time limits: the building authority (stavební úřad) may extend them, and defects in the application send them back to the start.
The second weak spot is in the releases. Raising prices release by release works as long as demand holds. When it turns, the second release stalls and the first buyers have a better price than those who have to decide now — and that shows quickly in the adverts.
Third: for a small project, where only a few units would be left for the off-plan sale and for each release, this whole machinery costs more than it brings, and it is more honest to wait for occupancy approval.
Annex: decision diagram — when to enter sales and what you get for it
Diagram 1. You proceed from the top; each node has one question and two branches. There are three entry points: A (quiet off-plan sale), B (announcement with a public price list), C (sale after occupancy approval).
Node 1 — Is the project permit final and binding? → NO — continue with node 2. → YES — continue with node 3.
Node 2 — Are the unit numbers and areas settled to the point that they will no longer change? → NO — do not enter. What you get: every change to a floor plan after a reservation is a contract amendment (dodatek ke smlouvě), and separately for each buyer. → YES — entry A: quiet off-plan sale. What you get: a discount against the later price list, no public price list, no binding occupancy approval date in the contract, advance payments into escrow.
Node 3 — Does the schedule up to occupancy approval have a buffer set according to the type of structure and the contractor? → NO — entry A. What you get: the same as above; certainty about the date is bought not with a discount but by not committing to the date yet. → YES — continue with node 4.
Node 4 — Is the set ready: site plan, unit sheets with dimensions, price list with version date, energy performance certificate, contract templates? → NO — complete the set. What you get: a delay of weeks; cheaper than an announcement with a price list that changes within a month. → YES — continue with node 5.
Node 5 — Is the project large enough for the price list to be managed in releases, and does its mix match the documented demand in the location? → YES — entry B: announcement and a public price list in releases. What you get: from that day the price is public and ages in full view; in exchange, data is generated by which the price list can be managed. → NO — entry C: sale after occupancy approval. What you get: full price and zero date risk; against that, management contributions and property tax for unsold units, and entering the market without a single piece of demand data.
Review 30 days after entry. The number of enquiries per unit is compared with the plan. If it lags behind, the materials and the order in which units are offered are changed first, and only then the price.
Frequently asked questions
When can you start selling flats off-plan? Technically, once the unit numbers and areas are settled. In practice, once the developer is willing to sign the latest date for concluding the purchase agreement. Until then it is gathering interest, not selling.
Is an off-plan flat cheaper? For the buyer, usually yes; by how much depends on the project and on how far the construction is from occupancy approval. The buyer pays for it by buying a description of a unit, not a unit, and by bearing the risk of the date slipping.
What if occupancy approval is delayed? The future purchase agreement decides — specifically the latest date for concluding the purchase agreement, the sanction for missing it and the right to withdraw. If those three provisions are not there, all that is left is goodwill.
How long does the transfer to the buyer take after occupancy approval? Under § 18 of Act No. 256/2013 Coll., on the Land Registry, a protective period (ochranná lhůta) of 20 days runs after the application for registration (návrh na vklad) has been filed, during which the cadastral office (katastrální úřad) may not approve the registration; according to the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre (Český úřad zeměměřický a katastrální, ČÚZK), the average time to complete a registration nationwide in August 2026 was 22 days. The administrative fee (správní poplatek) is CZK 2,000; when filing via the Land Registry (katastr nemovitostí) portal it is reduced by 20 % under § 9 of Act No. 634/2004 Coll., on Administrative Fees, i.e. to CZK 1,600.
Who files the property tax return for unsold units? The owner as at 1 January, i.e. the developer until the sale. The return is filed by 31 January of the tax period; whoever acquired a unit in year N files a return for year N+1.
Key takeaways
Entering the market is not one date but a choice between three entry points with different prices. With an off-plan sale you pay not for time but for information, and it pays back only when the price list actually uses that information — in the model project the threshold is 2.6 %. The announcement is a one-way step: a price list that has gone out does not come back. Selling after occupancy approval is the safest option for those who can afford to pay for certainty with stock and with missing data. The whole process from concept to handing over the keys is described in selling a development project.