Property Law In Spain -
A Guide For Landlords & Tenants

The following subjects are covered and the information is provided purely as a guide only and we strongly recommend that you take qualified legal advice before entering into any short or long term tenancy agreement.

Urban Leases Act of 1994

Short Or Long Term Contracts?

Registering A Contract

Inventory & Breakage Deposit

Community Fees & Property Tax - (see below)

Community Fees And Property Taxes

The property law in Spain states that short term tenants are not generally required to pay any additional charges relating to community fees or property taxes.

However the law in Spain does permit a landlord to request contributions for these items from a long term tenant and so it is important for a long term tenant to check this point before signing any contract.

Eviction

A landlord may seek to have a tenant evicted from his property for a number of reasons. For this to happen the property law in Spain requires that a court order be issued against the tenant, a process which can take many months to carry out.

Some of the instances whereby a landlord my issue such a request for a forced eviction included:

. failure to pay the rent - please not that previous court rulings have stated that rent arrears need to be in excess of six months before action can be taken.

. damage done to the property

. immoral or illegal use of the property

. subletting the property without prior permission

. use of the property for fraudulent activities

Tenants Complaints

Property law in Spain allows tenants who wish to make an official complaint against their landlord to do so through the Officina Municipal de Informacion (O.M.I.C.), who have offices in all the major towns across Spain.

Rental Income Tax

A landlord's tax liability on rental income will be either 25% or 35% depending on whether or not you are a permanent resident of Spain.

Your lawyer will be able to advise you how to make your payments to the tax office, but do not be surprised if he suggests that you get your tenant to make the payments on your behalf!

Property law in Spain allows you to arrange for your tenant to pay your tax by way of a deduction from the rental amount. If you agree to this method then you should ensure that you get receipts as proof of payment and also take copies of the tenants passports or other official identification documentation.

Landlords who are non-Spanish residents are required to pay rental income tax at a rate of 25%. Even if you do not rent out your property you will still be required to pay non-resident property tax which is currently set at a rate of 2% of 20& of the official property value.

If you take payment of your rental income in a currency other than the Euro you are still required to pay the Spanish rental income tax.

UK residents are also liable to pay UK tax on their rental income although there is a treaty with Spain that allows for the Spanish tax liability to be off-set against the UK tax.