# Rental costs



## LynnDel (Dec 10, 2019)

Hi, I am looking at renting a place, probably in Santander. Can anyone give me an idea of average costs associated with renting a place (apart from the rent itself) e.g 

electricity, 
gas, 
strata fees (fees for common spaces in apartment blocks), 
internet
any other fees tenant's are liable for?

And how long is a normal lease?

Thanks
Lynn


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

LynnDel said:


> Hi, I am looking at renting a place, probably in Santander. Can anyone give me an idea of average costs associated with renting a place (apart from the rent itself) e.g
> 
> electricity,
> gas,
> ...



Obviously these things all vary depending on circumstances. Here are some guesses for a small flat.

Electricity - 50-100€ per month
Gas - 50€ per month
Internet - 50€ per month
Water - 15€ per month
Contents insurance - ?


The following may also be payable by the tenant

Rubbish collection - 100€ per year
Community fees - too variable
IBI - Some landlords charge this so - 150 per year


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## LynnDel (Dec 10, 2019)

snikpoh said:


> Obviously these things all vary depending on circumstances. Here are some guesses for a small flat.
> 
> Electricity - 50-100€ per month
> Gas - 50€ per month
> ...



Thanks for that. Wow! Electricity is super expensive. What is IBI? Is that like rates or do I have to pay council rates as well?


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## LynnDel (Dec 10, 2019)

Hi again,

Another question. What do I need to provide in order to rent a property in Spain? Bank statements? References of some kind? 

Thanks


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Yes, electricity is very expensive in Spain - one of the highest countries

IBI is like council tax

You may well be asked for references, bank statements and/or pay slips. You will also be asked for an NIE


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I live in a 2-bedroom apartment with my husband. Costs are obviously very variable but mine are quite different from the figures Snikpoh quoted.

Electricity - €45/75 per month
Gas -€0 (property is all-electric)
Water - €15 per month
Internet - €18 per month for 50mbps, unlimited downloads
Phone - no landline so just PAYG mobiles
Rubbish collection - 0 (our local Council doesn't apply a separate charge)
Community fees - €40 per month but if you are renting will probably be covered by the rent
IBI - mine is €447 per year but if you are renting it's more usual for the landlord to pay


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

As has been said, electricity is expensive but I think that some of the figures quoted are excessive. I think it is unlikely that you would spend 100€ on electricity AND 50E on gas. It would be one or the other depending on how the property is heated, how the hot water is provided, how the hob / oven are powered.
You should consider also that many apartment properties in Spain still use communal heating systems, the cost of which is covered in the community charge. Obviously this makes the community charge higher and the individual bills lower. If the landlord pays the community charge, he/she will be passing this cost onto the tenant as much as possible in the rent of course, but it pays to know the particularities of each property when comparing.
Our tenant pays the service contract for the gas water heater as part of the gas bill, but in exchange, we pay his water consumption. We also pay the IBI (rates) and the community charge. 
So he pays the rent, electricity, gas (with service charge), phone/internet/cable TV.


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

At our 2 bedroom rented apartment in Benidorm we pay:

Rent €500 per calendar month.

Electric €30 - €50 per calendar month

Basura €115 per year.

Bottled gas €60 per year which covers hob and small heater.

Movistar high speed fibre optic broadband internet 300mbps and free phone calls €65 per calendar month. 

No IBI.
No water charges.

Steve


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Overandout said:


> As has been said, electricity is expensive but I think that some of the figures quoted are excessive. I think it is unlikely that you would spend 100€ on electricity AND 50E on gas. It would be one or the other depending on how the property is heated, how the hot water is provided, how the hob / oven are powered.
> You should consider also that many apartment properties in Spain still use communal heating systems, the cost of which is covered in the community charge. Obviously this makes the community charge higher and the individual bills lower. If the landlord pays the community charge, he/she will be passing this cost onto the tenant as much as possible in the rent of course, but it pays to know the particularities of each property when comparing.
> Our tenant pays the service contract for the gas water heater as part of the gas bill, but in exchange, we pay his water consumption. We also pay the IBI (rates) and the community charge.
> So he pays the rent, electricity, gas (with service charge), phone/internet/cable TV.


We also found, when looking at apartments to buy, that some buildings had their own communal cable TV/internet connections, the cost of which was included in the monthly community fees (although internet speeds were slow and the cable TV channels would have been Spanish ones).


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## LynnDel (Dec 10, 2019)

Lynn R said:


> I live in a 2-bedroom apartment with my husband. Costs are obviously very variable but mine are quite different from the figures Snikpoh quoted.
> 
> Electricity - €45/75 per month
> Gas -€0 (property is all-electric)
> ...


Thanks Lynn R.
Do you heat or cool your house or is that just lights, stove etc?
Also what did you need to provide in order to rent the place- references? bank statements? contents insurance? Presumably anything they ask for also needs to be translated?


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## LynnDel (Dec 10, 2019)

tebo53 said:


> At our 2 bedroom rented apartment in Benidorm we pay:
> 
> Rent €500 per calendar month.
> 
> ...


Hi Steve, Does your electricity include heating/cooling or just lights? I ask because I am looking at northern Spain, so heating will be a cost although probably not cooling I imagine!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

LynnDel said:


> Hi Steve, Does your electricity include heating/cooling or just lights? I ask because I am looking at northern Spain, so heating will be a cost although probably not cooling I imagine!


I'm guessing properties in northern Spain will be properly insulated so more energy-efficient. We spend over €100 a month on electricity during the winter months (Dec-Feb) trying to keep our uninsulated 3-bed house in Andalucia remotely comfortable - plus about €10 a week for a propane gas heater.

But the combined cost for IBI, water and rubbish collection is less than €700 a year which more than compensates.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

LynnDel said:


> Thanks Lynn R.
> Do you heat or cool your house or is that just lights, stove etc?
> Also what did you need to provide in order to rent the place- references? bank statements? contents insurance? Presumably anything they ask for also needs to be translated?


I don't rent, sorry, so I can't answer that question.

My electricity bill is for everything - lighting, heating (via energy efficient inverter air conditioning plus some supplementary bathroom heating), heating water, and running all appliances. We use the airconditioning for cooling on only a handful of days in the summer (even in the far South of Spain) and then only for a few hours a day. It has to be a 40C day outside before it feels hot enough to need to have the air conditioning on, and we don't get very many of those a year.


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

LynnDel said:


> Hi Steve, Does your electricity include heating/cooling or just lights? I ask because I am looking at northern Spain, so heating will be a cost although probably not cooling I imagine!



Hi Lynn,

My electric bill is just for lights, fridge, oven, tv and other oddments that use leccy.

I live in a residential block and am amongst other South facing apartments so any heat is usually kept fairly well inside and very rarely gets to cold but we do have a small gas heater if it's required.

Steve


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## John98103 (Nov 12, 2015)

Pick the city you want to compare 

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Santander


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