What VEFA is, and why you should understand it before getting excited
Buying off plan — VEFA, the sale of a property in its future state of completion — means buying a flat that does not exist yet: you pay in instalments while the developer builds, and ownership only becomes yours when the building is finished and registered in the land registry. In Morocco this is governed by Law 44-00 (Dahir 1-02-309 of 3 October 2002), completed by Law 107-12 and by the consumer protection Law 31-08. I have accompanied purchases of this kind in Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier and Marrakech for fifteen years, and the first thing I always say is the same: here, the order of the steps is not a whim — it is your protection.
Step 1 — The reservation contract: five rules that protect you
The reservation contract is the first paper you sign, and the one most people sign without reading. The law sets five clear limits on it:
- •It cannot exist before the building permit. Signing a reservation on a project without a licence is null and void, and the money must come back to you.
- •The advance is capped at 5% of the total price. Nobody can ask you for more to "reserve".
- •It expires after six months. If the final contract is not signed within that period, the reservation loses legal value and what you paid is returned.
- •You have one month to withdraw from the signature date, guaranteed by Law 31-08: if you change your mind, you get the full amount back within seven days.
- •It must state the expected delivery date. No date, no signature. Full stop.
Step 2 — The final contract, before a notary
The final contract is signed before a notary, and it is the document that rules. Law 44-00 requires it to include at least: the exact description of the property, the price, the payment terms and the delivery date. Anything not written there does not exist for the courts. Two things I always repeat to my clients: make sure the floor plan and the finish specifications are attached to the contract, and that the account where you make the transfers belongs to the project, not to anyone's personal account. And remember, the property is not yours at this stage: it becomes yours when the works are finished and the deed is registered in the land registry.
Step 3 — The payment schedule: how the price is split
The law requires payment in instalments tied to the progress of the works. This is the most common pattern we see in the big cities, according to market practice — each developer sets its own, and it must appear in the contract:
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Reservation | Advance of up to 5% of the price (legal cap) |
| Signing of the final contract | A first instalment, which in practice takes the total paid to around 30–40% |
| Works progress | Instalments tied to milestones: structure, enclosure, finishes |
| Key handover | The remaining balance, against the reception visit |
My street-level advice: before the first transfer, ask the developer for the full schedule in writing and keep it with the contract. Instalments should match work actually done, not random dates.
Step 4 — Key handover and guarantees: 1, 2 and 10 years
Handover is not "here are the keys". A reception visit takes place and a record is signed: anything wrong goes into the record. And from that day the guarantees set by Law 44-00 start running:
- •Perfect completion guarantee (1 year): visible finishing defects, the developer repairs them.
- •Two-year guarantee (2 years): equipment elements — lift, installations, plumbing — that come loose or fail.
- •Ten-year guarantee (10 years): serious defects affecting the structure of the building. This is the one that really matters in the long run.
If the works run past the contract date, read the penalty clause before signing, not after: that is where you see how serious a developer is.
Step 5 — Taxes and fees: the real numbers
The taxes on an off-plan purchase are the same as on a finished one, and are settled at the stages of the final contract and handover. For an apartment of 800,000 MAD, the bill looks like this:
| Item | % | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | — | 800,000 MAD |
| Registration duty | 4% | 32,000 MAD |
| Land registry | 1.5% | 12,000 MAD |
| Notary (fees + VAT + disbursements) | ~1% | 8,000 MAD |
| Translation and paperwork | Fixed | ~1,500 MAD |
| Total outlay | +6.7% | 853,500 MAD |
Source: current rates confirmed by the official tax guide and by the land registry tariff decree. If you finance with a mortgage, add the opening commission (1–2%) and the valuation; the full detail is in our mortgage Q&A article for Morocco.
The state aid Daam Sakane: when it helps and when it binds
A large share of today's new builds is bought with the direct state aid Daam Sakane, managed by the CDG through the official platform daamsakane.ma. The official tiers are: 100,000 MAD for homes up to 300,000 MAD, and 70,000 MAD for homes between 300,000 and 700,000 MAD. Eligible are Moroccan nationals, residents and MREs, who do not own another home in Morocco and have never received housing aid. And note the new condition in the 2026 draft finance law: if you sell before five years from the final deed, you repay the aid to the State; the home must be your principal residence during that period. It is an aid to live in, not to speculate with — read it that way.
The fine print I check before you sign
After fifteen years, this is my standard checklist:
- •Building permit in force and in the name of the developer selling to you.
- •Reservation contract with the advance capped at 5% and a written delivery date.
- •Full payment schedule, in writing, tied to construction milestones.
- •Floor plan and finish specifications attached to the final contract.
- •Delay penalty and termination clauses, read with a magnifying glass (Law 31-08 protects you against abusive clauses, but better not to get there).
- •The project's bank account, verified.
- •A developer with previous deliveries; visit its older buildings and talk to neighbours if you can.
And to see what new developments are on sale right now, look through our properties in Casablanca, in Marrakech and the complete neighbourhood price guide. The full purchase costs, with more examples, are in what buying an apartment in Morocco really costs.
Questions I get at the office
Can I lose the money I advance?
The law covers you at the highest-risk moments: the reservation advance is capped at 5%, you have a month to withdraw with a refund within seven days, and the reservation expires after six months without a final contract. The real risk is not the paper — it is the developer, which is why my list starts with their track record.
Is the property mine from the moment I sign the final contract?
No. You sign a commitment, but the title comes at the end: when the works are finished, the handover deed is signed and registered in the land registry. Until then, the property still belongs to the developer.
What if the construction runs late?
The contract must set the delivery date and, if the developer is serious, a delay penalty. Read it before signing: once signed, that clause rules.
Can Daam Sakane be combined with a mortgage?
Yes, that is the usual case: the aid covers part of the price and the bank finances the rest. The process is done entirely on daamsakane.ma and eligibility is verified within seven days, according to the official platform.
Is off plan cheaper than buying finished?
Launch prices on a development are often lower than resales in the same building, and you pay in instalments instead of everything at once. But "cheaper" is not the same as "safer": the real saving is choosing the project well, not just the price.