How to Cancel a Property Purchase Abroad and Get Your Deposit Back (2026)

Published on: June 27, 2026

Before you read. This is general information, not legal advice. Deposit law and cancellation rights vary by country and change over time. Always have a qualified local lawyer review your contract before you pay a deposit.

You have signed something, you have paid a deposit, and now you want out. Maybe the survey came back ugly, maybe your mortgage fell through, maybe you simply changed your mind. The first thing to understand is uncomfortable: buying property abroad is almost never like buying a sofa online. The consumer-style "14-day cooling-off period" you are imagining usually does not exist for real estate, and whether you get your deposit back depends entirely on which country you are in and what, exactly, you signed.

This guide explains the cooling-off and deposit rules in six of the most popular markets for international buyers, and the general principles that decide whether your money is coming back.

The big misconception

For most physical goods and many distance contracts, consumers get a statutory right to cancel. Real estate is generally carved out of those rules. A property purchase is governed by national property and contract law, not consumer-protection law, and in most countries the moment you sign a binding agreement and pay a deposit, that deposit is at risk.

There is exactly one major market in this guide with a true, automatic statutory cooling-off period for buyers. The rest come down to your deposit type and your contract clauses.

France: the one real cooling-off period

France is the outlier, and it is generous. Under the Loi SRU (later extended by the Loi Macron), a residential buyer who is not a property professional gets a 10-day cooling-off period (the delai de retractation) after signing the preliminary contract (the compromis or promesse de vente).

How it works:

• The clock starts the day after you receive the signed contract and the notice of your withdrawal rights.
• Within those 10 days you can withdraw for any reason, or no reason at all, and you are legally entitled to a full refund of your deposit, typically within 21 days.
• Your deposit is normally held in the notaire's regulated escrow account, not handed to the seller.
• To withdraw, you must do it in writing, by registered post (or a recognized electronic registered-mail service). A phone call does not count.

This protection covers residential purchases by non-professionals. It does not apply to building plots, commercial property, or purchases through a company. After the 10 days expire, the purchase becomes binding and the usual deposit consequences apply.

Spain, Italy and Portugal: no cooling-off, it is all about the deposit

These three civil-law markets have no statutory cooling-off period. What happens to your money depends on the legal nature of the deposit you paid, and this is where foreign buyers lose serious sums by misunderstanding the contract. Our dedicated guide to the arras, compromis, caparra and sinal deposit contracts goes deeper, but here is the essence.

Spain: the arras trap

Spain recognizes three types of deposit (arras), and the difference is everything:

• Arras penitenciales (Civil Code Art. 1454): a clean walk-away with a price. If the buyer pulls out, they lose the deposit. If the seller pulls out, they return double. Neither side can claim more. This is what most buyers think they are signing.
• Arras confirmatorias: no right to walk away. If you breach, the other side can take you to court to force completion or claim full damages, which can far exceed the deposit.
• Arras penales: a penalty deposit, where the injured party can keep the penalty and still demand completion.

The trap: the Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that arras are only treated as penitenciales if the contract expressly and clearly says so. If the type is not specified, courts default to confirmatorias. So a foreign buyer who assumes "worst case, I just lose my 10% deposit" can find themselves facing a claim for full damages because the contract never named the deposit type. Get it in writing, in the contract, before you sign.

Italy: the caparra default

Italy works the same way, with the same hidden default:

• Caparra confirmatoria (Civil Code Art. 1385): the default unless stated otherwise. A defaulting buyer loses the deposit and a defaulting seller owes double, but the non-defaulting party can instead sue for specific performance or full damages. It is not a clean walk-away.
• Caparra penitenziale (Civil Code Art. 1386): the true price-of-withdrawal deposit. Buyer loses it, seller returns double, no further claim.

Italian buyers also get caught assuming that early documents (the proposta, then the compromesso) are casual "expressions of interest." They are not. Under Italian law they can be fully binding contracts, and the deposit at the compromesso stage is typically 10% to 20%.

Portugal: the sinal and the CPCV

In Portugal you sign a promissory contract, the Contrato de Promessa de Compra e Venda (CPCV), and it is legally binding the moment both parties sign. There is no cooling-off period. The deposit is called the sinal (usually 10% to 30%), and under Article 442 of the Civil Code the rule is symmetrical: if the buyer defaults, the seller keeps the sinal; if the seller defaults, the seller must return double. In some cases, especially for a unique property, a party can demand specific performance.

The UK: nothing is binding until exchange

England and Wales work on a completely different logic, and there is no cooling-off period because, for most of the process, nothing is legally binding at all. An accepted offer is not a contract. Either party can walk away freely right up until exchange of contracts, which is why "gazumping" (a seller accepting a higher offer late in the process) is legal and common. The downside of that freedom is that you can lose your spent costs (survey, legal, mortgage fees) with no recourse.

The picture flips at exchange. At that point you typically pay a 10% deposit, the contract becomes binding, and pulling out means losing the deposit and potentially more. Scotland is different again: there, the deal becomes binding earlier, at the "conclusion of missives." A narrow exception exists if a purchase (often an off-plan reservation) was concluded purely at a distance with no in-person contact, where consumer distance-selling rules can apply, but this rarely covers a standard purchase.

Dubai and the UAE: no cooling-off, retention by completion stage

Dubai has no statutory cooling-off period. For a ready (secondary-market) property, once you sign Form F (the mandatory Unified Sale Agreement, generated on the DLD system by a licensed broker) and pay the deposit (typically 10%, held by a broker or trustee, not the seller), you are in a binding contract. A buyer who walks away without legal justification generally forfeits the 10%, subject to the contract terms.

The single most valuable move here is to negotiate a finance condition into Form F before signing. Agents often present it as a non-negotiable standard form. It is not: supplementary terms can be attached, and without a properly drafted finance clause, your 10% is at risk the moment a bank declines your mortgage.

Off-plan purchases follow a separate, more protective framework under Law No. 13 of 2008 (the Interim Property Register) as amended by Law No. 19 of 2017. A developer cannot simply keep all your money. It must notify the Dubai Land Department, which issues a 30-day notice to the buyer, and any retention is capped by the construction completion percentage verified by the regulator. Buyer payments sit in a project escrow account, and amounts above the cap must be refunded. The exact retention tiers depend on how far the project has progressed, so confirm the current percentages for your situation. Note that "I changed my mind" or "I found a better deal" are not valid cancellation grounds, and that selling your contract on (assignment) is often a better exit than cancellation.

What actually gets your deposit back: the universal principles

Regardless of country, the buyers who recover their deposits tend to do the same things. The ones who lose them skip these steps.

1. Build your escape hatches before you pay, not after. The most powerful protection in every market is a well-drafted conditional clause: subject to mortgage approval, subject to a satisfactory survey, subject to clear title, subject to planning. If your financing falls through and you had a proper finance clause, you get your money back. If you did not, you usually do not.
2. Do your due diligence before the deposit. Title search, charges and liens, planning and habitation licences, outstanding community fees, the seller's actual authority to sell. In civil-law countries especially, the binding moment comes early, so the checks have to come earlier.
3. Pay into escrow or a regulated client account, never directly to the seller. A deposit held by a notaire, lawyer, or licensed trustee is far easier to recover than cash that has already reached the seller's pocket.
4. Get the deposit type and contract type in writing, and make sure you understand it. In Spain and Italy in particular, the default interpretation is the one that traps you. Name the deposit type explicitly.
5. Withdraw in the correct legal form and within the window. Where a cooling-off period exists (France), use registered post and respect the deadline to the day.
6. Remember that seller default can favour you. In Spain, Italy, and Portugal, a seller who walks away typically owes you double your deposit. That is leverage worth knowing.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a cooling-off period when buying property abroad?

Usually not. Most countries do not give buyers a consumer-style cooling-off period for real estate. France is the main exception, with a 10-day statutory cooling-off period for residential buyers. Elsewhere, whether you can cancel depends on your deposit type and contract clauses.

Can I get my deposit back if my mortgage is refused?

Only if your contract included a properly drafted finance (mortgage-subject) clause. This is true in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Dubai, and almost everywhere else. Without that clause, a refused mortgage usually means a lost deposit.

In Spain, if I just lose my deposit, can the seller still sue me?

Possibly. Only arras penitenciales let you walk away by forfeiting the deposit. If the contract did not clearly specify the deposit type, Spanish courts default to confirmatorias, under which the seller can demand full damages or force completion.

What happens to my deposit if I cancel an off-plan property in Dubai?

The developer cannot keep all of it. Under Law 13 of 2008 (as amended by Law 19 of 2017), retention is capped by the project's construction completion stage, you must receive a 30-day notice, and amounts above the cap are refunded from the project escrow account.

Does the UK have a cooling-off period for buying a house?

No. In England and Wales nothing is binding until exchange of contracts, so either party can walk away before then (which also allows gazumping). After exchange, pulling out means losing your deposit.

JanusHermes lists cross-border property across 50+ countries in 11 languages, with the buying-process context that keeps foreign buyers out of trouble. Understand the contract before you sign it.

Related guides: The preliminary contract deposit trap, How making a property offer actually works, and How to hire a real estate lawyer abroad.

Disclaimer. Last reviewed June 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Deposit law and cancellation rights vary by country and change over time. Always have a qualified local lawyer review your contract before you pay a deposit.

A note on the numbers: where no source is named, the market figures in this article (prices, yields, costs) are indicative estimates compiled from publicly available market data and industry reporting at the time of writing. Markets move and rules change, so treat them as a starting point and verify current figures with official sources before acting on them.