Lucyspain

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this is repetitive but I tried searching and couldn't find quite the info I needed.

Having lived in /around Alicante for around a year renting, I would now like to buy a holiday home with a view to retiring there one day. I have the purchase money plus about 15% for fees / taxes etc and I'm just wondering if people can advise me on what the maintenance costs are realistically for the following:

Council tax equivalent
Refuse collection
Home insurance
Water
Electric
(Water and electric based on standing charges, not much usage)
And anything else I've forgotten?

Also if anyone can recommend a good English-speaking solicitor that would be great.

Thank you
Lucy

cricketman

You should probably mention how big the property will be. The costs for a 2 bed flat will be completely different to a 5 bed villa with pool

Lucyspain

Silly me, thanks! 2 to 3 bed tiny casita/ bungalow

Longlegpete

As a rough guide I would go along the lines of

Council tax equivalent IBI ------- 400€ -500€
Refuse collection €100
Home insurance €280 -€300 depending on area
Water €200 -€400 depending on area
Electric €600 could be less depends on air con or heating when you are there
Community charge if you are in one ?
La Renta tax between €20-€200
ADSL Movistar €500
Good monitored alarm would also be on my list at around €400 to €500 with servicing

It's all a bit of a guess but it may be a place to start

snikpoh

... good list.

For home insurance, that would have to be contents and buildings of course.

You may also have to retain the services of a gestor to do your taxes?

Lucyspain

Thanks for your replies.

Does anyone else have ideas re the costs of each ?
I have low bills in England due to not v high usage so I hope it would be similar in Spain. Though obviously things have standing charges etc.

thanks!

Lucyspain

I forgot to ask.. What is la renta tax?
Thanks

snikpoh

'La Renta' is just income tax.

Because you will be a non-resident property owner, you have to pay what we refer to as 'imputed rental tax'. That is, you have to pay tax on 'presumed' or imputed rent. They will assume that your property COULD be rented out whilst you are not living in it.

The calculation is a small percentage of your cadastral value and then 24.75% of that.

It is exactly the same for anyone living in Spain who owns a property in UK - they must pay imputed rental tax for the UK property.

Dxf

Hola

Apologies for slightly off topic

If they stop people renting properties short term ...... will this tax apply? Just thinking out loud

Davexf

Longlegpete

Depending what KW power supply you are on the standing charge for electric will be €18 to €22 per month with no usage

Longlegpete

Yes of course, not for one second will they drop it , they will just change the name of the tax

me me

If the place in Spain is a holiday home, I am wondering if there is a system like in the UK where no standing charges are made, that would be a big saving as only the amount of power used would have to be paid for.

Lynn R

The standing charges must vary a lot between different areas then - mine are €20.89 for two months (we're contracted for 3.45kwh on the TUR tariff).

Longlegpete

As far as I know there is no such thing in Spain, all have a standing charge, could be wrong but never heard of any such thing

me me

Neither have I, and we only found out about it in the UK by chance.

It may be worth some posters while looking into it, though.