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Although the demand for Spanish properties is increasing year on year and one and a half million foreigners own their own holiday or retirement home in Spain, there are many times this amount who visit Spain each year and many of whom experience difficulty in finding accommodation where and when they want it.

The areas under most pressure are the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca, which attract more holidaymakers than any other areas in Spain. In Torrevieja, such is the chronic shortage of hotel accommodation that many people own several properties and make a good living simply by renting them during the peak holiday season. And all the time their properties are increasing in value.

Holiday lets

The best property in the wrong area will not attract bookings or at best, only a few. Another thing you need to know is that property companies, which specialise in letting, charge between 20 - 25 per cent of the letting fee, plus an annual service charge for looking after your property. This charge is for changing light bulbs and locks, cutting keys and general light maintenance. Decoration is not included but they can arrange this for you if and when required. Expect to pay about £300 per annum.

There are many problems that can arise with rentals and you need to penetrate the market at the point it does you most good and can do least harm. Spanish law generally favours the tenant so clearly you need to identify those tenants that are never going to be in a position to utilise this law. Quite simply this means avoiding long lets. Instead, aim for the holiday market where tenants change every 14 days or so and where fees are paid in advance.

During winter months, when holiday lettings become more scarce, the temptation is to offer a long let at a reduced rate to take you back into the peak summer months once again. This can be risky because if after a month your tenant stops paying, it can take you five or six months to have them evicted legally. If you send the heavies in, the most you are likely to achieve is to upset the courts, when the problem could run on for another few months or even longer.

On the side of tenant protection today, the present law provides that residential contracts, as distinct from short-term holiday lets, must have a minimum duration of five years. That is, a landlord can offer a contract of two years or three years, but, if the tenant decides that he wants to stay on, this contract is renewable annually for a total period of five years. If the tenant himself wishes a contract of only two or three years, this is all right. The rent can be revised upward by an inflation factor each year.

Clearly, you don't want to end up in a situation like this and the law provides the means for you not to by providing for short-term holiday rental contracts, called arrienda de temporada. These holiday contracts do not grant the tenant any right to automatic extension and they require that the tenant vacate when the contract ends. However, if the enthusiastic couple who you have retained to let your property and look after it don't know this you can well end up with a five year or longer tenant if the wrong contract has been used. All your rental contracts need to be clearly marked and headed Por Temporada, which means short-term only and no long term rights.

One thing, which you must be aware of, is that your property will almost certainly be part of a community in which you have the right to vote and the obligation to pay community fees. All communities have statutes regarding various things the members hold important and among these may be conduct. If your tenants are drawn from an area where shouting, screaming, fighting, bad language and drunkenness are common, it won't be long before the community will be serving notice on you to control the situation. If you don't do this you could end up banned from your own property for up to three years. Although this is most unlikely it could happen. However, the cost of hosting such tenants would probably have brought the matter to a close long before this could ever happen.

As you can see from the above information, if you wish to let your own flat or villa in Spain, or go into the tourist accommodation business, you must be very careful about the terms of your contracts and the quality of your tenants. The opportunity to pay off your property by letting it looks tempting on paper and if carried out correctly it can work out to your entire satisfaction and usually does.

Notwithstanding this, many problems arise and you need to be wary. Tenants may damage your furniture or harm your plumbing and electrical installations. It's not uncommon for letting agents to keep your money and allow your apartment to fall into ruin while you are absent.

It goes without saying that you must not have a telephone available for your tenants, even a coin operated telephone, because these can be very easily made to operate without charge if the telephone lines are accessible. In any event, very few people today don't own a mobile phone and all UK mobiles operate perfectly well in most parts of Spain.
How do I find Tenants?

Many people start by letting their apartments and properties to friends and their friends and often it spreads to others. Don't be overly generous in your haste to get started, your expenses have to be met and the idea is to pay for your property, not subsidise the holidays of your friends.

If you have a property on an urbanisation, it is likely that they offer a rental service for people doing exactly the same thing, as you want to do. If this is the case, this could be a solution for you. Talk to others who use the service to make sure that they are satisfied with it. We will advertise properties on our Web site and through our contacts for clients wishing to let properties they have purchased through our associates.

Holiday Companies

You can also try the holiday companies that bring people to Spain for two or three week self-catering holidays. These are becoming increasingly popular, especially with young families who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of hotels and of course, the expense. Holiday companies are constantly looking for new properties to let. They charge their client's high prices for relatively short stays and as such can afford to pay you a more than fair price for your property.

If you deal with a holiday company a contract will be necessary. Read this very carefully. A series of holiday tenants can do a lot of damage to your property. You need to make sure that any such damage is is made good and the cost does not fall to you.

Make sure the company is legally registered, is paying all the proper taxes and carries the necessary insurances. When you provide linens and other hotel-type services and deal with many tourist visitors on a short-term basis, you move into a new area legally. You are now a business yourself and in many tourist areas of Spain, you should legally declare your property as a tourist letting accommodation. This means that inspectors will come to check standards and the taxman will take an interest in you.

Estate Agents

Some owners have employed estate agents to handle their lettings but be sure you are dealing with people who are competent and whom you can trust. If you don't have the answers to these questions you simply cannot take the chance. Too often owners find that extra fees and charges from the agency soon add up, or they do not properly see to the maintenance of the place.

As you would imagine, there are regular cases where property has been rented out regularly and the owner not informed that it was rented, with the agency keeping all of the money. This is particularly common where accommodation is being provided for people visiting Spain for four or five days to view property. The only answer is to deal with people you know you can trust or have someone keep an eye on the situation for you. You can throw a spanner in the works by asking those looking after your property to advise you regularly in regard to lettings as you frequently visit for a few days yourself at short notice. Make it known that you have a set of keys.

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