January 2026
Sale-purchase promises can now be registered in the land register, with pre-partitioning — meaning a separate land register is opened for each residential unit. This provision comes into force 3 months after the law's publication, offering buyers additional legal security through the enforceability of their rights against third parties.
A reservation mechanism is introduced with clear conditions:
For the promise, there is no maximum percentage limit established by law, although initially the introduction of such a limitation was discussed. The advance payment can even be 100% of the project price, but the developer can only spend it under certain conditions and for specific execution phases.
The developer is obligated to open a bank account dedicated to the project's construction. The amounts from this account can be used under conditions and percentages established by law:
For the remaining stages and works, the law does not provide clear allocation rules — an aspect that will inevitably generate discussions in practice.
Using money from the dedicated account for other purposes or without respecting the conditions is sanctioned with a fine of 1% of the turnover recorded in the previous year by the developer. For companies established exclusively for the respective project — a frequent model in the market — this sanction has a negligible practical effect.
The need for regulation in this field was real and recognized. However, the law leaves uncovered a series of essential aspects that will generate discussions and blockages in practical application. Reservation contracts, sale-purchase promises, and clauses regarding the dedicated account will require careful drafting, adapted to the new legislative framework, to effectively protect the interests of both parties.
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