What the Nordis Law (no. 207/2025) actually brings

Registration of pre-sale agreements in the land book

Pre-sale agreements will be registrable in the land book, with pre-partitioning — meaning a separate land book entry is opened for each housing unit. This provision enters into force 3 months after the publication of the law, offering buyers additional legal security through the enforceability of their rights against third parties.

The reservation

A reservation mechanism is introduced with clear conditions:

• Maximum reservation period: 60 days
• A maximum of 5% of the price is paid — an amount that can be recovered if the pre-sale agreement is not signed due to the developer's fault

The pre-sale agreement: no percentage cap

For the pre-sale agreement there is no maximum percentage cap set by law, although the introduction of such a limit had initially been discussed. The advance payment can be as much as 100% of the project price, but the developer may only spend it under certain conditions and at certain construction phases.

The developer's dedicated account

The developer is required to open a dedicated bank account for the construction of the project. The funds in this account may be used under conditions and at percentages established by law:

• 25% for the structural framework
• 20% for installations

For the remaining phases and works, the law does not provide clear allocation rules — an aspect that will inevitably generate discussions in practice.

Sanctions: limited effectiveness

Using the funds from the dedicated account for other purposes or without complying with the conditions is sanctioned with a fine of 1% of the turnover recorded by the developer in the previous year. For companies established exclusively for the respective project — a frequent model on the market — this sanction has a negligible practical effect.

Practical perspectives

The need for regulation in this area was real and widely acknowledged. However, the law leaves a number of essential aspects uncovered that will generate discussions and practical bottlenecks. Reservation contracts, pre-sale agreements and clauses regarding the dedicated account will require careful drafting, adapted to the new legislative framework, in order to effectively protect the interests of both parties.