Surrey City Centre and Guildford have some of the busiest pre-sale condo activity in the Lower Mainland. When buildings take years to complete, life changes in the meantime: jobs move, families grow, and finances shift. That is when people start asking about assigning a pre-sale contract. Assignments are legal in BC, but they are tightly governed by the purchase contract, developer consent, and provincial disclosure rules. In our experience, the process goes smoothly only when the paperwork is done properly and both parties understand exactly what they are stepping into.
What Is a Pre-Sale Condo Assignment?
A pre-sale condo is purchased before the building is built, often years ahead of completion. An assignment is when the original buyer, called the assignor, transfers their rights and obligations under that purchase contract to a new buyer, called the assignee. The assignee takes over the contract and completes the purchase when the building is finished. The assignor never takes title: they are selling the contract itself, not a finished home.
Buyers sometimes assume an assignment works like a regular resale. It does not. There is no title transfer between assignor and assignee, and no fixed completion date between the two of them in the usual sense. What is being sold is a promise: the right, and the obligation, to buy a home that does not exist yet.
The Contract Comes First
Read your purchase agreement before anything else
Every assignment starts with the original purchase agreement. Most pre-sale contracts contain a clause dealing with assignments, and in our experience it rarely says "anything goes." Some contracts permit assignment with conditions, some restrict it to immediate family members, and some prohibit it outright before interim occupancy. If your contract is silent, do not assume you are free to assign. The disclosure statement filed for the project can contain additional terms that apply, and those terms are part of the deal you signed.
Developer consent is usually required
Most contracts require the developer's written consent before an assignment is valid. Developers in Surrey and across the Lower Mainland handle this differently: some consent readily for a fee, some impose conditions on who the assignee can be, and some simply decline. The developer holds real leverage here, because their consent is what makes the assignment real. Approaching them properly, with complete paperwork the first time, makes the difference between a quick yes and weeks of back-and-forth.
BC's Disclosure and Reporting Rules
After assignments drew public attention in the Lower Mainland, BC tightened the rules around them. Developers marketing pre-sale homes must address assignments in their disclosure materials, and assignments in a project must be disclosed to the developer and recorded, with information flowing to the provincial regulator. The practical effect is simple: assignments are no longer quiet side deals. They leave a paper trail, and the developer, the buyer, and the regulator all end up looking at the same record. In our experience, this works in favour of honest parties on both sides. It just means the paperwork has to be right.
What an Assignment Actually Costs
The assignment fee
Most developers charge a fee for consenting to an assignment. In our experience, these fees range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand depending on the project, and the contract usually sets the amount. The fee is commonly payable before consent is given, so budget for it early rather than treating it as a surprise at the end.
Taxes on both sides
Assignments carry real tax consequences. The assignor may owe tax on any profit from the assignment, and the Canada Revenue Agency looks closely at whether that profit is business income or a capital gain, a distinction that changes the outcome significantly. Depending on the structure of the transaction, GST can also come into play.
On the assignee side, we have seen buyers caught off guard by how the property transfer tax is assessed. They expected it to be based on the original contract price and discovered that amounts paid for the assignment itself can also count toward the taxable price. On a tower unit in Guildford or Surrey City Centre, that difference can amount to tens of thousands of dollars. Work the numbers with a lawyer and an accountant before signing anything, not after.
Deposits
The assignor's deposits usually transfer with the contract, and the assignee reimburses the assignor for them as part of the arrangement. The assignment agreement needs to spell out exactly how deposits, interest, and any credits are handled, and when the money moves.
The Step-by-Step Process
In our experience, a well-run assignment follows a predictable sequence:
1. Contract review. A lawyer reviews the purchase agreement and disclosure statement to confirm whether assignment is permitted, what consent is needed, and what fees or restrictions apply.
2. Finding an assignee. The assignor finds a buyer for the contract. What the contract fetches depends on the market when the assignment happens compared to the original price, in both directions.
3. Negotiating terms. The parties agree on the assignment price, the deposit reimbursement, and a timeline for the assignment itself.
4. Developer consent. Written consent is requested and obtained, and the assignment fee is paid. The developer may ask for details about the assignee before consenting.
5. Assignment agreement. The assignment agreement is prepared and signed. In our experience, the cleanest assignments are the ones where each party has independent representation, so nobody is relying on the other side's lawyer.
6. Completion. The assignee completes the purchase with the developer when the building is finished. The assignor's involvement ends with the assignment.
Risks People Tend to Miss
Financing at completion
The assignee does not just need funds for the assignment itself. They must qualify for a mortgage on the full purchase price when the building completes, possibly years later, at whatever rates and lending rules exist at that time. Time and again, we have seen assignments unravel at the finish line because financing assumptions made in year one no longer held in year four.
Delays and developer risk
Completion dates slip, and a buyer taking over a contract inherits its delays along with its rights. The assignee also inherits the project risk: changes to the building, changes to the schedule, and in the worst cases, developer financial trouble. The contract and disclosure statement carry the details, and they deserve a careful read before an assignee commits.
Rules affecting who can buy
Federal rules restricting the purchase of residential property by non-Canadians can capture pre-sale assignments in the Lower Mainland, and rules around foreign buyers and taxation change frequently. Anyone who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident should confirm their position before signing an assignment, not after.
Market movement
An assignment that makes sense on paper today has to still make sense at completion. Values move in both directions, and over years, not weeks. We have sat with assignors who were certain their unit would be worth more by now, and with assignees who bought contracts near the top of a cycle. Neither outcome is guaranteed in either direction, which is exactly why the decision deserves clear eyes and proper guidance.
Why Surrey Sees So Many Assignments
Surrey is one of the fastest-growing cities in BC, and its pre-sale market is deep: towers in Surrey City Centre, Guildford, and along the Fraser Highway corridor routinely sell out years ahead of completion. Long construction timelines plus busy lives adds up to a steady flow of people who need out of a contract, and a steady flow of buyers who want in without waiting for the next launch. Assignments are simply how that supply meets that demand, within the rules.
How We Help
At Law Boutique in Surrey, we regularly act on both sides of pre-sale assignments across the Lower Mainland: reviewing purchase agreements and disclosure statements, confirming consent and fee requirements, drafting and negotiating assignment agreements, coordinating deposit transfers, and working alongside your accountant on the tax side. Whether you hold a contract you are thinking about assigning or you are considering taking one over, the right time to involve a lawyer is before anything is signed. You can read more about our real estate practice here.
Ready to talk it through? Book a consultation with a Surrey real estate lawyer at lawboutique.ca/book.