Meaning & use
off-plan
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to buying a home or office before it has been built, usually from drawings or plans.
Grammar: Sits directly before the noun it describes: an off-plan apartment, off-plan sales.
Patterns
- off-plan property
- off-plan apartment
- off-plan purchase
They put down a deposit on an off-plan apartment near the new station.
Off-plan buyers often pay less than people who wait for the finished building.
adverb
Bought or sold before the building work is finished, so the buyer pays in advance.
Grammar: Used after verbs such as buy, sell and purchase: buy off-plan.
Patterns
- buy something off-plan
- sell something off-plan
We bought off-plan and moved in two years later.
She sold the flat off-plan and made a small profit.
Common combinations
- buy off-plan
- Many young couples buy off-plan because they cannot yet afford a finished home.
- an off-plan property
- The agent showed us several off-plan properties in the same development.
- off-plan sales
- Off-plan sales fell sharply when interest rates went up.
- an off-plan investor
- Off-plan investors accept more risk in exchange for a lower price.
- off-plan purchase
- An off-plan purchase means you pay now for a home you will not see for months.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pre-construction
- Common in American and Canadian property writing; it means much the same but is used mostly in North America.
- under construction
- Describes a building that is already being built, whereas off-plan can mean nothing has been built yet.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
Which sentence uses off-plan correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Off-plan' means buying before the building is complete, so the second sentence fits. The first is contradictory because the house is already finished, the third is not a real form, and 'on-plan' is not the usual expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “off-plan”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.