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You are here: Home Housing Renting Renting a house in Spain

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10/02/2010Renting a house in Spain

Renting a house in Spain Nothing is more stressful than arriving in a foreign country and not having a satisfactory place to live. Here’s how you can make the hunt for a place easier.

This article is updated by Nick Snelling author of How to Move Safely to Spain.

Be clear over what you want (and what is realistically available) is the first step to finding somewhere suitable to rent.  For Spain, you would need to consider the following possible factors and criteria:

Your aim:

   1. A short holiday (up to two weeks)?

    · By the beach
    · Near bars and nightlife
    · In the countryside (campo)
    · In a city

   2. An extended break (up to three months)?
    · Will the local amenities and facilities be open out of season.

   3. A property buying recconnaisance?
    · Always rent a property as close in type and location to that which you intend buying.

Timings

   1. Tourist season
    · Obviously, you will be paying premium rents.

   2. Out of season
    · Make sure that where you intend renting does not effectively close-up out of season.

   3. Cross-over between seasons
    · An excellent way of seeing the transition of places in Spain as they change from (in some places) mass tourism to the reality of life for the remaining eight months of the year.

 Facilities required

   1. Heating. Most holiday villas and apartments lack heating.

   2. Furnished. While most rentals are furnished but it is worth checking out to what extent (important for longer lets).

   3. Swimming pool
    · Who will maintain it?
    · Is it heated (pools are generally too cold to swim in for around 7/8 months a year.
    · Is it close to the house and easily visible (small children safety etc.)

   4. Parking. This can be absolutely critical for flats, most apartments and some buildings.

   5. Many floors/steep plot. This can be a problem as some villas are built on steep plots and have many floors or levels which makes life difficult for the elderly, infirm or those with small children.

   6. Services
    · Not all rental properties have a landline telephone - let alone ADSL - so make sure (if this is important to you) that you can be connected.  Note that in country areas this may not be possible.  So be careful...
    · Some properties lack mains electricity and mains water.

   7. Transport communications
    · Depending upon whether you will have access to a car you may well have to consider proximity to bus, metro and train routes.  However, be aware that in the country, areas buses can be very infrequent!

WHERE TO LOOK

Obviously, the internet is the logical place to hunt for rental property.  Try:

    · Expatica.com for our listings
    · Major rental property portals such as Villarenters.com or Ownersdirect.com
    · Estate agents dealing with Spanish property sales. Many international estate agents have a rentals department as part of their business whilst other agents usually know their particular area extremely well and are able to reccomend rentals.
    · Do searches for properties for rent in your desired area.
    · Many people who let property now have their own web sites – allowing you to deal (and negotiate) directly with the owner.
    · English-speaking ‘Spanish’ forums (link to http://forum.expatica.com/Spain-f208.html) and blogs (link to Expatica blog). These can be superb for networking to people who often know individual areas, rentals (and their owners).

Once you are in Spain, of course, you may wish to change your premises and rent somewhere else.  Alternatively, you may be on holiday, in which case you may wish to look for somewhere specific to rent for the next time you are over.  In this case, you can also look at:
 
   1. Se Alquila (For Rent) signs. The Spanish use these extensively on premises they wish to rent.  Most will be private owners seeking to rent out their premises but some Se Alquila signs will be those of rental agencies.  Normally, you will need to speak some Spanish to communicate effectively – although in high tourist-density areas, English is often spoken.

   2. Estate agents. Most estate agents also handle rentals from their showrooms and these can be well worth visiting.

   3. Newspapers. There are a lot of English language newspapers (some free, some not) in Spain.  These can be excellent places in which to look for rental properties

   4. Leaflets on lamp posts! These are particularly effective for university students looking for rental accommodation.  They may look scrappy but they are widely used (albeit that you invariably need Spanish to communicate effectively)

RENTAL COSTS

Rental costs vary so much that it is impossible to provide any meaningful guideline.  Spain is vast and the difference between (say) renting a modest flat during the winter in the middle of Aragon bears no resemblance to that of a similar (in layout and size) beach apartment during August on justly popular Gandia Playa or five star Puerto Banus!

So, unfortunately, individual research is required to establish what a roughly ‘fair’ rent is for a given property in a particular location during a certain time of year.  There is no real short cut to obtaining this information - apart from going on internet forums such as our own at http://forum.expatica.com/Spain-f208.html  or a forum that ‘revolves’ upon the area in which you wish to rent.

EXTRA COSTS

Gas and electricity are unlikely to be included in any long-term contract, although community fees, property taxes (IBI) and water rates are sometimes paid by the owner.  Vitally, as in any contract, the ‘devil is in the detail’ - so always check carefully your potential liabilies.

CONTRACTS

A short-term contract (contrato de arrendimiento de temporada) applies to holiday lettings or anything of up to one year in duration. Long-term contracts are for a minimum of one year and usually up to five years. After that time, the owner can terminate the contract, provided he gives the tenant concerned 30 days' notice. If this is not undertaken then the existing contract will be automatically renewed for three years.

DEPOSIT

When you sign a rental contract, you must:
    · Pay the landlord a desposit (fianza) equal to one month's rent. This will be returned to you when you move out providing you leave the property in the same condition as when you first moved in.
    · Make out a very detailed inventory (if it is not provided) and check the inventory (if one is provided) to ensure that both you and the landlord agree the contents present in the property and their condition.

Many landlords, especially in big cities, demand additional guarantees that you can pay your rent. They may wish to see:
    · A payslip (nomima) or
    · An aval bancario which is a letter of credit from a Spanish bank which guarantees any default on your payments.

REPAIRS

It is normally the landlord's responsibility to keep their property in a fit and habitable condition although it is not a landlord’s responsibility to repair any damage a tenant causes through daily use. If you need to make any urgent repairs, inform the landlord first wherever possible so that he can make the repairs.  Failing that and great urgency you may have to pay for the repairs and obtain the money back from the landlord – so keep any bils!

If repairs are required (which affect health, hygiene and comfort in the property) a landlord must give  three months' notice, during which time you may decide to end your rental agreement (by giving one month's notice) or negotiate a reduced rental while the premises are being repaired.

RESCINDING THE CONTRACT

A landlord can terminate a rental contract if the tenant:
    · Does not pay their rent. 
    · Sublets the property without the landlord's permission.
    · Deliberately causes damage to the property or undertakes (non-urgent) repairs without the landlord's consent.

A tenant can terminate a rental contract if:
    · The landlord fails to make necessary repairs to keep a property in a fit and habitable condition or if;
    · The landlord disturbs the tenant while they are living there.
 
PROBLEMS WITH YOUR LANDLORD

If you have unresolvable problems with your landlord then go to a Spanish lawyer to make a formal complaint.  If necessary, your lawyer will take the case to court (procedimiento civil ordinario).
 
Nick Snelling is also the author of Taking the Heat and How to Sell your Spanish Property in a Crisis
 


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