Long Term Rentals - Regulations etc.

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sunshine2016
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Location: Andalucia

Long Term Rentals - Regulations etc.

Post by sunshine2016 »

Hi, I am thinking about renting a property we have out long term. Does anyone know where I can find the regulations etc. for doing this. Also does anyone have it in English. The property is in Cadiz area in Andalucia. I don´t think a rental licence is required for long term lets, is this true.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

I would suggest you read all through this.
You will certainly need an energy cert. But there seems like some more paperwork to done.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/library/property/
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
costa-brava
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Post by costa-brava »

Hi Sunshine
Back in May you had a thread running in which you said you had "division horizontal" problems. If it is the same property, I think you might encounter some of the same problems.
It obviously varies from region to region but it all connects up to tax and to draw up a long term rental contract you need to have a reference number from the "catastro". Then like CASA says there are various regulations about the quality and legitimacy of the property.
But there are three distinct types of "long term". Are you speaking about renting two or three months to snowbird expats or are you planning to rent on a permanent or semi-permanent basis to local people. Or the 3rd type would be where you let for the complete summer. Each one will be a little different but all will require a reference from "Catastro".
sunshine2016
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Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2016 10:44 am
Location: Andalucia

Post by sunshine2016 »

Hi and thank you for the replies. This is a different property. It is 100% legal. We were thinking about renting it out long term e.g. to someone as their permanent home. Didn´t want the hassle of holiday lets. I understand about the contracts but wondered if there were other requirements as with holiday rentals e.g. air conditioning, furniture etc.
sunshine2016
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Location: Andalucia

Post by sunshine2016 »

Hi costa-brava, regarding the other property on the horizontal division we have decided not to rent it out at the moment. We were getting so much different information from people. Our lawyer has told us we have to have 200 ltrs. of drinking water per guest in a tank. Everyone else we have spoken to has been told they just need 200 ltrs of water in a tank per guest. Not sure if they have more upto date information than our lawyer. The property is in Andalucia and we were going for a rural licence to rent the whole house.
brendan
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Post by brendan »

Presuming that your property is habitable then it´s easy enough to rent it out long term. The regulations which apply to vacation rentals do not apply and I´m presuming that this isn´t a shed in your back garden.

What you should be aware of is the rights of tenants. While eased recently the laws heavily favour the tenant. Googling it brings up most of the info you might want to familiarise yourself with.

Personally I was very wary of going down this route (horror stories abound) but friends are renting the villa long term.

With regards to tax if you rent to under 30s, then you have 100% relief. Anyone else and the allowance is 60%.

A contract is a VERY good idea. While a spoken agreement is recognised in law, an agreement on paper is much better.

The nonsense spouted online about 11 month rental agreements being a good thing is just that - nonsense. Any tenant has the right to stay for 3 years irrespective of any thing else (there are some strict exceptions to this).

Choose your tenants wisely. Get references and follow them up. If your tenants are working, make sure that their contract is fulltime and permanent. The nightmare scenario is getting tenants who don´t pay their rent or trash the place forcing you to resort to the courts which is expensive and takes a long time.

I know one landlord who was physically abused when he asked tenants to leave at the end of their stay which he had the legal right to do. He ended up paying them to leave and was considerably out of pocket when all was said and done.

In another case, the eviction went before the courts who ruled in favour of the non rent paying tenants because they had ties to the community i.e. their kids went to school there.

I´m not trying to scare you but this is a bit of a minefield. One of the reasons you get 60% relief is cos´ the govt. is trying to encourage people to rent out second properties, something that people have been wary of doing cos´of all of the above.

Find the right tenants and you´re laughing!
costa-brava
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Post by costa-brava »

Agree with all of Brendan's comments. At the end he put "Find the right tenants and you´re laughing!"
One way to get better tenants and less problems is to remove furniture etc and rent it unfurnished. The rent isn't significantly different but there are two advantages. You are less likely to get fly-by-nighters but also there are problems with furnished when something needs to be replaced. If you replace it you have to pay and if they replace it then it's their property.
My daughter rented out her flat in order to get a bigger place for the kids. The agency insisted on unfurnished for both. But she got good tenants and she is looking after her rented house well. Six years down the line it has worked well for both her and the owner of her present abode.
As well as the tax advantages Brendan mentioned the tenant pays all the utility bills and for IBI and insurance etc you can discount the full amount for tax.
There is a lot less work than in holiday renting. We have never gone for long term because we have been trying to sell off our properties but I believe it has a lot in its favour.
With regard to your water deposit the requirement is for 200 litres per person but that's not a lot. If you fill a bath right to the top lip it's about 180L. It really depends on your source of water more than the regulations. If you only get a top up once a month you'll need a tank of about ten times that amount and a big cement bunker is best.
One thing to bear in mind is that it is usually much cheaper if you're out in the sticks filling up a big tank. We are connected to the public supply and pay a fortune for ZERO consumption standing charges in winter.
Anyway good luck and have fun. Hope you get both properties working out for you.
PS If you get your water from a truck make sure it's not the same one that empties your septic tank!!!!! Ha Ha!
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Casscat
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Post by Casscat »

costa-brava wrote: PS If you get your water from a truck make sure it's not the same one that empties your septic tank!!!!! Ha Ha!
Bleugh! Hadn't thought about that one!! :shock: :P :lol:
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