Buying a new-build flat from a developer

The contract goes through a notary

A contract with a developer to buy a flat, including a pre-contract, must be notarised (AÕS § 119, VÕS § 33). A reservation without a notary does not oblige the developer to sell the flat on the agreed terms.

Usually the sale contract (võlaõiguslik leping) is signed at the notary first, and ownership is transferred once the building is finished. The buyer becomes the owner only when entered in the land register.

How to protect your prepayment

To stop the developer selling or mortgaging the flat to someone else, the buyer's claim is secured with a priority notice (eelmärge) in the land register: any disposal that goes against it is void (AÕS § 63).

It is safer to pay the prepayment through the notary's deposit account with a payout condition — for example, once the buyer is registered as owner. Until the condition is met, the notary does not release the money to the developer.

Handover and defects

At handover, inspect the flat and write every defect you notice into the handover report.

If the seller is a business and the buyer a consumer, defects that appear within 2 years of handing over the house or flat are presumed to have existed at handover, and a contract cannot make this worse for the buyer (VÕS § 218 lg 2¹). A consumer buyer must tell the seller about a defect within 2 months of finding out about it (VÕS § 220).

Claims for building defects under a sale contract do not expire earlier than 5 years after the building was completed, or 10 years if the seller breached their duties intentionally (TsÜS § 146).

Energy certificate and EIS guarantee

A new building's energy certificate based on designed demand is valid for 2 years after completion; after that a certificate based on actual consumption is issued (EhS § 66).

For buyers of an energy-efficient home, the state EIS guarantee on a mortgage is up to 50 000 €.