Renting Information Required.
 

What costs are there for renting in Spain? Does one have to put down a bond/deposit? And how much notice do you have to give to leave? Can you leave before the end of your contracted time?

I have never rented anywhere, in any country, so a complete beginner, so any information gratefully received. We have hopefully sold our house and intend to rent for several months in the winter.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Costs for renting: If direct with the landlord then zero. if with an agent then 2-4 weeks rent plus the cost of contract (about 100 euros)

Bond/deposit. In the tourist areas then probably just 1 month. In the Spanish cities then more likely to be 3-6 months although an aval bancario or proof of nomina can help reduce the amount of deposit needed

Notice. You will normally have to give 1 month notive to leave with a minimum term of either 6 or 12 months. You will have automatic right to the property for 5 years. In the touristy areas they may try and fob you off with a 12 month holiday contract. However, these are not legal if you use the house as a primary residence, so you will have the same rights as a full term contract anyway if you want them. In this case Spanish law is more important than contracts that actually break Spanish law ;)

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Thanks for that extremely useful advice. So contracts (unless holiday types) have to be 6 or 12 months long? We did not want to rent for that long.

Having said that, we have contacts in the area and there are lots of people who are desparate to rent their homes. Could these be legally rented (at long-term rates, not holiday rates) on a shorter contract if we made a deal with the owner? They would rather have some rent than none!

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I'm not sure where cricketman got his information but I have to disagree with most of it!

Contracts can be of any length - depends upon the landlord. For example, as a landlord, I recently let an apartment for just 1 month whilst I have others which have been rented for nearly 18 months and still going. However, it may be hard to find a landlord willing to do such a short let and you will almost certainly have to pay more for the privilege.

Agents fees vary, in this area most charge about 12% of the annual rental figure. There is no additional charge for the contract.

Deposits again vary, but in this area the norm is one month's rent.

Notice periods will be written into the contract but are typically 1 month.

Whilst the tenant may have the right to remain for 5 years, if the landlord needs the property back as their main residence, then I think this does not apply.

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Thankyou for that information. It appears like anything else in Spain, the answer is, it varies!:rofl:

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I have never paid for a contract in 8 years of renting

legally they can only ask a month rent & a month deposit - regardless of whether it's an agent or direct with the owner

usually a month notice is given on either side - some agents will try to insist that you stay til the end of a contract or pay till the end, but they can't make you

you only have automatic right to 5 years after the first 12 months

you are right, in that no matter what the contract says, if it is your only or main residence, then the LAU applies

http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_d.../l29-1994.html

the google translate tool does a pretty good job with it, if anyone wants it in english

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Thanks so much, the information from you and others on here, coupled with what other renters have told us, makes us feel more confident about the legal aspects of renting.:)

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If it's only for a short term, for example the winter months, why bother with a contract at all?

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That would be even better!:)

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What are you looking for and where? There may be someone on here who could help.:thumbsup:

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Nowhere until 2012 (we will hopefully be moving this winter) and we do have a few contacts in mind, but I will ask again nearer the time :) thanks.

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I wasnt talking about short terms contracts, I dont know anything about those, sorry

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!no pasa nada!

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I'm afraid thats not true, agents can charge you with up to a 10% of the anual rent for their job, the owner agrees. If you dont' what to pay taht looks for individuals you are renting their flats directely.

The problem then is that you have to negotiate with them directely and many spanish people speak no word of english and use crappy old renting contracts.

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

they might be able to charge - but I have never been charged

and according to the LAU a tenant only has to pay a month rent in advance & a month deposit - & I dare say some agents might charge a separate 'finder's fee' - but as I said - I have never paid one

I do prefer to rent directly from owners -& by far prefer a Spanish owner IME to an English one, on the whole

and since a contract has to be in Spanish to be legal - why indeed should they be able to speak English?

surely the onus is on us foreigners to speak Spanish, or get someone who does to help us?

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I have just this last week spoken with two relocation agents one charges the amount of your agreed rental inc. translation of the contract. The other charges 20 % less than your agreed rental no mention of translation of contract but I have asked her. Both have said contract length is one year ! I guess they want that rather than 6 months.

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OMG ain't that the truth;)

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

If you rent a flat using an agent they will allways charge you, thats how they make their money! Its part of my job!

If you don't what to pay this extra 10% go directely to the owner then you will just make de legal deposit and pay the rent. When you leave the flat you will get you deposit back (if everything is fine in the flat of course, some owners are extremely picky).

Of course there is no legal obligation for anyone to speak English I was just confirming the fact that many Spanish people don't speak English therefore if you plan to rent your place directely to the owner be aware that you might find yourself using Google translate like crazy!

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This is open to negotiation though. In the flat that we currently rent we agreed to pay half of the agents fees with the owner paying the other half.

Are you assuming that Brits in Spain dont speak Spanish :blink: :D

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I'm saying many Spanish people don't speak English and not anybody who moves to Spain speaks Spanish.

And yes, there are so many empty flats around its a good idea to negotiate.

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

I have used agents a few times in the past 8 years

I have never paid anything other than what the contract states the monthly rent is

I have never paid any payment as deposit other than what the contract states is the deposit

I have never paid - or been asked for - a separate agent fee

I understand that there might be a 'hidden' charge & the owners actually get lass than we are paying - but I don't think so in my case, as I know the local market pretty well & what we pay is right for the area (actually we have a real bargain atm ;) & plan to never move again!)

& I didn't say there was a legal obligation to speak English - neither is there a legal obligation for us foreigners to speak Spanish

my point really, was - since we're in Spain, why should the Spanish speak English - surely it's us foreigners who should be making the effort understand the locals, rather than the other way around?

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

in Granada it is common practice for the person letting to pay 1m rent to the agent. We were warned about this before we moved out there.
I don't know if a landlord will be paying anything to the agent.

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it might be common practice - but the LAU states 1 month rent & 1 month deposit

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I have seen ads for properties, on the properties themselves and on the web stating "sin commission"

the LAU refers to the lease of the property not the introduction of the landlord and tenant, the agent arranged the lease, brought landord and tenant together for the signing. after all is completed the agent withdraws from the scene. Rent payment is direct to the landlord as are payment of the untilities.

in the uk many properties are managed so the agent is getting around 10% of the rent each month as a commission from the landlord, but also overseeing the rent payment and the fending all complaints from the tenant, all utilities are the responsibility of the tenant.

thats how I see it IMHE

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I've never paid nor been asked for an introduction fee though :D

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I think (maybe) that you may be confusing things here.

Any tenant will have to pay 1 months rent in advance plus the deposit (normally also 1 months rent). Some landlords ask for more but the LAU states otherwise.

In addition, a fee has to be paid to the agent. This can be likened to a finders fee for the tenant and a service fee to the landlord for finding the tenant. This fee is quite variable and can be paid entirely by the tenant, entirely by the landlord or split between the two. It seems that the figure also varies so it's best to find out first!

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Oh I insist on Introduction Fees all the time, thats why my circle is so small and manageable, otherwise I would need a manager.

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I'm not confused - I have never paid a fee on top of the month rent in advance & the deposit

maybe the owner has -but I never have

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there and I thought the agencies were going out of business due to bad business practices, such as not being up to date on their portfolio, when all along it was because they werent charging the tenant as they do elsewhere.

Without that income they will go bust even quicker.
ho hum

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

I'm sure they must be charging the owner a finder's fee, or a % of the rent each month goes to them - of course they aren't doing it for nothing

not that they seem to actually DO anything :frown: - certainly the last agent we dealt with took months to rectify things & several potentially damaging structural problems were never fixed despite being reported a few days after we moved in & us reminding them on a very regular basis - but I digress..........


but I still have never paid, or been asked for, a separate fee


maybe some of the agents here do charge one - but not the ones I have dealt with

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Agents in Spain are really no more than 'finders' - they are certainly not 'managing agents' as we would understand in UK.

Therefore, to get problems fixed, it is more normal to go to the landlord and not the agent.

In my experience (having many properties for rent, all via agents) agents do nothing other than find tenants.

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

so what do they do for their money?

the ones I am talking about were indeed supposed to be managing agents - & the owners live on the other side of the world & we had no means of contacting them

still - that's all in the past now & we're happily renting directly from the owner

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Would anyone know how much is the usual expenses (gas, water, electricity) in renting out Spain cost?

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For a typical 2-bed flat in town, two people renting, these are some rough figures.

Water - 40 euros every 3 months
Electricity - 40 euros per month
Gas bottles - 14 euros each (small/normal ones)


All this depends on whether you cook with gas or electricity, whether you have air con. units etc. etc.

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Thanks so much!

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

That reminds me some stupid situation that happened many years ago. A silly Brit young kid got injured (his fault for being stupid, I remember he did something silly but not exactly what) and his mother, with not a single word of Spanish, went crazy because nobody in the emergency service and at the hospital could speak English.

Why most English speaking people assume that wherever they go they will find natives speaking English? This could well be the normal case as more or less all the rest of countries have pulled down their pants and learned the current "worldwide" language, but it cannot be expected.
Spanish people speak Castillian Spanish and that's the only language they HAVE TO speak (plus any other Spanish language in some other parts supposedly IF they want to: Catalan, Vasque, Valencian...). If you actually find Spanish people who can speak English, start with a BIG thank you because they have bothered to try to understand you.

I understand that a mother can be very worried about her son, but she should have learned some basic vocabulary and made sure that just in case something happened (this means BEFORE it happens) she had somebody who could act as translator if needed.

If you travel don't assume things will be the same and people will speak your language. I still haven't really forgiven my sister-in-law for assuming that the 4* Madrid Hotel that we used for our wedding guests would have a keetle as a basic service in every room so she wouldn't have to bring any for mi niece's bottless. NO, there wasn't! We passed the online info, with a description of rooms and services perfectly clear in Spanish and in English. She should have checked in advanced, not assumed she didn't have to bring one. The staff at the cafeteria made her a big favour for one day, as an emergency even though they are supposed not to, and then they told her to buy her own. She started critizicing the staff and the hotel, when it was her own fault. On the first day as a married couple I still had to hear from in-laws and some British guests how bad she was treated and how was it possible for a 4* hotel not to have a keetle.

Of course I should have bit my tongue, but that was too much asking... specially after she showed up in my wedding wearing white! :rofl:

As per the rental topic... the agents normally won't manage anything, as you already said they mostly introduce the parts. You should always ask about translation of the contract and also if you have to pay to the agents once or monthly. In some cases their cost is included in the rent so you cannot see it because it is later deducted from the landlord.

If possible I would advice to deal directly with the owners, but again don't assume they will be able to speak English if you cannot speak Spanish. There are lots of properties to rent, so they will possibly be keen to accept your offer, just make sure you get the lenght you need, it doesn't have to be a year.

Snikpoh's figures for 2 people/2 beds is fine, actuall cost will always depend of what you actually use.

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

When we moved house we had to pay a months rent finders fee and so did our landlord.

Any problem our landlord dosent really want us to approach him but the service person directly.He has written all the names and phone numbers on the items concerned.

Our house has some gadgets one of which is a lift which never works so I call the engineer direct.Hes coming again tomorrow.

As far as bills are concerned our summer electric bill came out a couple days ago.Although we have been as frugal as possible with the aircon over the summer the bill was 460 euros for 2 months electricity.:eek:

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not wishing to appear difficult and others have given you some costs, but surely that depends on how much you use. If you are a heavy user in the uk then you would see a reduction in some charges due to the Spanish weather, but would still be higher than average. Things like kids leaving lights\radios\televisions etc on 24\7, many hot showers\baths etc.
I would suggest allow for about 15% less than you are currently paying, things like gas and electricity are roughly the same as uk, its things like the council taxes which are much cheaper.
rgds

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

I noticed this in Milan where there was no kettle, but have stayed in hotel in Granada where there was a kettle.
In the uk it is accepted that all hotels, basic over night stops such as Travelodge and even a basic bed & breakfast in a private house would have a kettle. This can cause an extra overhead to the business as such items have to be regularly checked for safety.

Is not having a kettle a general rule in Spain, or is it a decision of the operator ?

Re: Renting Information Required.
 

Of course hotels in Spain dont have kettles. Spaniards dont drink tea or instant coffee. What would they use them for!?

If a hotel has kettles is must be that they had complaints from foreigners so decided to stock them