barney41

Hi everyone

We are considering buying a holiday home in the Orihuela Costa region and would appreciate your knowledge on what our annual running costs of the property would be, specifically taxes. We won't be renting the property out.

Thank you.

stevescot

Costs will depend on a number of factors:

Mortgage payments, if any.
Life Insurance for mortgage, if required.
Home insurance, depends on property value and contents.
Electricity, depends on supply rating in kW, and consumption obviously.
Bottled gas for cooking?
IBI - council tax, depends on property size.
Water and bins. Bins ussually fixed charges, mine are about 22 euro per 3 months.
Water depends on usage.
Non residents imputed rental tax - depends on the catastral value of the property.

To give you an idea:
Where I have my small 1 bed holiday home in Alicante:

Water and bins: e 70 per quarter
Electric: e 28 per month
Gas: Maybe 4 bottles per year @ e18 each
IBI: e150 per year
Non residents tax: e25 per year

This is based on around 8 x 1 week visits per year.

HTH...

as the Americans would say: your mileage may vary....

spainrico

The taxes are relatively (compared to UK) low - IBI is the local town hall tax for local services, depends on the property of course but expect to pay around 150-200 euros a YEAR plus you will have to pay non-resident property owners tax probably a similar amount, also payable annually.

IBI is on the increase as town halls are broke, but still way less than UK council tax or whatever they call it these days.

If you can afford to buy it in the first place you can afford the taxes.

But ask your agent to provide evidence of taxes paid on the property you are interested in and they need to prove that it is all paid to date.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

shazzabob

we have an appartment with ,lekkie water suma community charge insurance and solictors fees usualy around £1000 a year on avarage hope this helps

barney41

Thanks everyone, much cheaper than expected. We are weighing up the annual costs of running an apartment vs renting over the school holidays every year.

Finally, is the IBI a community charge and is the non-residents tax a percentage of the property value (is this the catastral value)?

missile

Don't forget tax on buying and selling. You would be cheaper with a long term rental.

barney41

Yes, is it roughly 10% on buying, not sure on selling hadn't thought of that as hopefully we wold be buying now to use as a holiday home for about 20 years and then as a retirement home 6months UK/Spain and then our daughter will inherit it when we are too old.

missile

Budget for 11% tax on buying a resale and 7% plus 3% withholding tax / CTG on selling. In addition you will have legal fees and EA fees on selling.

Are you sure you will want to be tied to holidaying in the same place for the next twenty years?

Be aware tax will be due on transfer / inheritance.

barney41

Wow taxes are heavy and hadn't looked into the inheritance side of things.

We would still take a holiday somewhere else during another end of term, don't think we will be able to avoid the likes of Disneyworld for instance. We were just thinking the six weeks. We were thinking of buying now whilst the prices were low but starting to think it is a daft idea as the buying taxes and running costs only would probably pay for ten years of holidays.

Moses2013

If you're buying now, buy in a place you could happily retire to. Unless it's a city like Barcelona or a great location with a view, most of the apartments are only cheap because there are so many of them and community charges would put me off personally. It's still a great time to buy in certain areas, but also depends on the property type.

stevescot

They may well do, but at the end of your 10 years holiday, what will you have to show for it?

Do whatever works for you... My plans were / are for holidays and hopefully, finances permitting, retirement in 10 years time to my Spanish house.

In answer to one of your questions; IBI is like our council tax, paying for street lighting, etc... There may also be community fees to pay depending on what development you buy into. I specifically went for a house with no community fees, no pool, etc., in order to keep fixed costs low.

The non residents tax is based on a percentage of the catastral (rateable) value of the property. It will depend on when the last valuation was carried out as to what formula gets used to work out the tax, but it's not a huge amount of money.

As many will tell you; there need be no rush to buy something as there is a glut of property for sale, so take your time, choose the area carefully, and factor in the availability of cheap flights to a nearby airport, also car hire or purchase. It's anyone's guess as to whether Spanish property will prove to be a good investment over the longer run, but you surely need to work out the exit costs if you decide that it's not for you.

Moses2013

Good choice and there are plenty of pools in Spain that are open to the public. It's cheaper to get a weekly or monthly ticket for the family, rather than paying fees for a pool you can't use most of the year.

missile

Maybe, but skinny dipping in your own pool is fun .................... if one can afford it

Horlics

Barney,

Variable costs for fuel can be ignored, as what you spend in one place, you won't spend in the other, if you see what I mean.

Fixed costs are the ones to consider.

A large apartment with community charges to pay costs me 2,000 UKP a year. That covers all community fees and standing charges for phone, electricity, tax, etc.