# moving to Spain



## pax949 (Dec 18, 2010)

We are thinking of moving out to Spain at the end of the summer (2011). We will be selling up in England but do not wish to buy as yet in Spain. We are looking for a long term secure rental but as yet all I seem to find is long term holiday lets. Does anyone know of a site where I can find permanent secure long term rentals? Thankyou


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I've given you a thread of your own to get more notice. 

Where abouts in Spain are you looking to move to????

Jo xxx


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## pax949 (Dec 18, 2010)

Hi Jo,
Thanks for your reply. We are looking at Costa Blanca....La Zenia, Cabo Roig, Playa Flamenca, Villa Martin etc.


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2011)

Pisos en alquiler en España, Madrid y Barcelona - Enalquiler.com & venta pisos, alquiler pisos, pisos madrid, pisos barcelona, pisos valencia


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Loads of links in the sticky _*Span**ish forms and other useful links*_ on the last page.

The stickies have lots of useful info in general.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

pax949 said:


> We are thinking of moving out to Spain at the end of the summer (2011). We will be selling up in England but do not wish to buy as yet in Spain. We are looking for a long term secure rental but as yet all I seem to find is long term holiday lets. Does anyone know of a site where I can find permanent secure long term rentals? Thankyou


have a look in the 'useful links' sticky


there are quite a few links there to good sites


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## pax949 (Dec 18, 2010)

Thanks, will do


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

*Renting*

You will be very lucky if you get someone to offer more than 11 months rental. (see previous topics about squatters).


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## shoemanpete (Jan 4, 2010)

pax949 said:


> We are thinking of moving out to Spain at the end of the summer (2011). We will be selling up in England but do not wish to buy as yet in Spain. We are looking for a long term secure rental but as yet all I seem to find is long term holiday lets. Does anyone know of a site where I can find permanent secure long term rentals? Thankyou


Well done, yet another sensible ex-pat to be! Don't buy in Spain if you don't have to. It is great to have the flexibility to move around if you do not like where you are. What I would add, and this is a view held by many.....if you can come here and NOT sell up in UK, all the better. We are renting ours out and the rent there pays for here. Also, one needs to not 'burn the bridges'. who knows when we may need to return to UK. You will not be able to buy a like-for-like house again once you have sold it, I don't think. The interest will not keep pace with house price rises. 

Having a UK address and a UK bank account is in my view mandatory. OK, so we lose out on NHS there, but you can't have it all. Anyway, with all this good wine, fruit, salads and veg and the sun......you don't get ill! (we hope)

Good luck.


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## shoemanpete (Jan 4, 2010)

..............forgot to say, there has got to be plenty of long term rentals, try to google the English newspapers here for the classifieds. There are loads on the CDS, so there must be there also.


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## pax949 (Dec 18, 2010)

Why just 11 months? Surely you would have the option to renew a contract?


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## pax949 (Dec 18, 2010)

Hi Shoemanpete,

Thanks for your reply. Someone else suggested that we keep an address and bank account in the UK....why is that? We are pensioners so I've heard that we will get free health care in Spain.
Hopefully, as you say, the good food, weather and wine will keep the doctor away lol.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

pax949 said:


> Why just 11 months? Surely you would have the option to renew a contract?


We are renting a house in which we have lived happily for the past two years. We intend to stay for two or three more years and our landlord is happy with this because he knows from experience that we are excellent tenants (we pay our rent six months in advance).
Yet our contract is a temporada i.e. eleven months.
You will be extremely lucky to find a rental with anything other than a temporada.
But if you are a reliable tenant I can think of no reason why a sensible landlord should not be happy to extend your contract.
The eleven month contract protects the interests of the landlord which imo is very necessary in Spain, considering the difficulties many landlords have experienced.
W are the first tenants who have regularly paid the rent! Our landlord frequently had to fly here from his home in Austria to collect from previous tenants.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

pax949 said:


> Hi Shoemanpete,
> 
> Thanks for your reply. Someone else suggested that we keep an address and bank account in the UK....why is that? We are pensioners so I've heard that we will get free health care in Spain.
> Hopefully, as you say, the good food, weather and wine will keep the doctor away lol.


A UK address is essential if you wish to have Sky tv. Otherwise you will pay a large sum to one of the many companies that offer the service in Spain.
We have no UK accounts but Spanish and offshore accounts. I have a UK credit card. Our UK income is paid to our offshore banks and we each keep a small amount of 'working capital' in our Spanish accounts.
The reasons for this are : convenience of dealing with a UK offshore bank(English speakers, familiar procedures), the ability to take advantage of good exchange rates and the horror stories I have heard of people's Spanish accounts being frozen if a dispute should arise over tax issues.


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

*Temporada*

Thanks mrypg9 you made my point for me. Whilst you will have access to Spanish health facilities, these are not compatible in all cases with UK services. Medical and prescription supply is on a par (some say better) but nursing care, home visits, and long term care certainly aren't. If you are in the twilight of your lives you need to think seriously about what you will do (or have done for you) if one of you dies or becomes terminally ill - despite the sun, fresh air and fruit!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Calas felices said:


> Thanks mrypg9 you made my point for me. Whilst you will have access to Spanish health facilities, these are not compatible in all cases with UK services. Medical and prescription supply is on a par (some say better) but nursing care, home visits, and long term care certainly aren't. If you are in the twilight of your lives you need to think seriously about what you will do (or have done for you) if one of you dies or becomes terminally ill - despite the sun, fresh air and fruit!


That's why we intend to stay here for a few more years - four or five - then have a shortish period in rural France before finally crawling off or being carried to the UK, to Glasgow, OH's home town.
Scottish health care and general care for the old and decrepit is extremely good.
And of course you can get excellent quality food of all kinds in the UK.
Judging from some posts you'd think that only in Spain can one find decent fresh fruit, veg, fish etc.
Of course quality here is good....just as it is in the UK if you shop carefully and are looking for the 'right' foodstuffs.


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## pax949 (Dec 18, 2010)

Thanks for your reply.....sounds like the type of thing we are looking for and would be willing to pay 6 months in advance for as long as we rent. Just hope we can find a long term rental that would be prepared to do that.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

pax949 said:


> Thanks for your reply.....sounds like the type of thing we are looking for and would be willing to pay 6 months in advance for as long as we rent. Just hope we can find a long term rental that would be prepared to do that.


most rentals you pay monthly - & regardless of what the contract says, once you have been there & paying rent for 12 months you have the right to stay for 5 years, unless the owner needs the property as his personal dwelling

obviously you have to keep paying the rent..............


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> most rentals you pay monthly - & regardless of what the contract says, once you have been there & paying rent for 12 months you have the right to stay for 5 years, unless the owner needs the property as his personal dwelling
> 
> obviously you have to keep paying the rent..............


Are you sure.......I thought that if the contract was Temporada that it was for eleven months and only eleven months unless both parties wish to extend.
Can you quote the relevant law as I'm interested.
As for paying six months in advance, I do it for my convenience. The landlord didn't ask me to pay in advance. It's a rather large sum and I like to get it out of the way for my peace of mind. I tend to 'buy' my rent when the exchange rate is favourable.
Next time rent is due he's only getting three months tho' as I changed at 1.18 - £1.


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## mickhailes (Feb 3, 2011)

hi im thinking of moving to spain.i am currently on housing and council tax benefits,also i get severe disability allowance,incom support,and mobility,
will i get these benefits transfered to spain,s system?
and replies would be helpful thx
mick


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Are you sure.......I thought that if the contract was Temporada that it was for eleven months and only eleven months unless both parties wish to extend.
> Can you quote the relevant law as I'm interested.
> As for paying six months in advance, I do it for my convenience. The landlord didn't ask me to pay in advance. It's a rather large sum and I like to get it out of the way for my peace of mind. I tend to 'buy' my rent when the exchange rate is favourable.
> Next time rent is due he's only getting three months tho' as I changed at 1.18 - £1.


I'll find it - maybe not tonight though - I know I found it for someone else once on another forum - just have to remember where I left it...........:confused2:

unless it has changed very recently I'm sure - I was originally told by a lawyer friend when a previous landlord was being a bit of a pain

we decided to move on anyway - who needs an awkward owner...........

the way my friend expalined it to me was that once you had been there a year, a temporada contract no longer really applies - if it ever came to court, the court would say that a contrato de vivienda is assumed in the legal sense

equally, even if the contract isn't renewed & the owner still takes the rent, a contrato de vivienda applies

& furthermore - if the property is your main/only residence - again, a contrato de vivienda applies



final edit - found the link

the most important point seems to be not the length of the contract, but whether or not the property is your main/only residence

if it is, a temporada isn't applicable - they are only supposed to be used for holiday lets

http://www.spaviv.es/docs/LeyArrendamientosUrbanos.pdf


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## pax949 (Dec 18, 2010)

You've all been really helpful...thanks. Where did you find your house? Was it through a newspaper or web site?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mickhailes said:


> hi im thinking of moving to spain.i am currently on housing and council tax benefits,also i get severe disability allowance,incom support,and mobility,
> will i get these benefits transfered to spain,s system?
> and replies would be helpful thx
> mick


Hi Mick

You might be able to transfer the disability allowance but housing benefit is not paid outside the UK. Further details here:

What benefits am I entitled to if I live in Spain?


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

pax949 said:


> You've all been really helpful...thanks. Where did you find your house? Was it through a newspaper or web site?


When we first got here we stayed in a house belonging to my son and dil. Then we moved into an apartment we found via a newspaper ad. Disaster. The so-called agents were renting without the owner's knowledge, it transpired. Plus we hated living in that kind of 'community' and we had never lived in a flat and didn't take to it.
We found our house via an estate agent long established(Spanish) and respectable who had done business with my family for over a decade.
We started paying a rent we thought rather high and after our first year stated we would stay only if the rent was reduced by 500 euros a month. This was accepted as our landlord knew by then he would not find better, more reliable tenants.
He is a good landlord and we are good tenants. A fortuitous combination.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> Hi Mick
> 
> You might be able to transfer the disability allowance but housing benefit is not paid outside the UK. Further details here:
> 
> What benefits am I entitled to if I live in Spain?


I read in the week that the Coalition is tightening up on the Disability Allowance regulations.
Apparently 50% of claimants have never been asked to provide medical proof of their condition...
Apparently.....


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## mickhailes (Feb 3, 2011)

*disability benefit*



mrypg9 said:


> I read in the week that the Coalition is tightening up on the Disability Allowance regulations.
> Apparently 50% of claimants have never been asked to provide medical proof of their condition...
> Apparently.....


hi i will be ok i been disabled for the years with an amputation of my leg fractured skull punctured spine among others
but yes the cuts are going to hit people hard
i think we should be saying good luck to each other we will need it

mick


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## mickhailes (Feb 3, 2011)

*interesting*



mrypg9 said:


> When we first got here we stayed in a house belonging to my son and dil. Then we moved into an apartment we found via a newspaper ad. Disaster. The so-called agents were renting without the owner's knowledge, it transpired. Plus we hated living in that kind of 'community' and we had never lived in a flat and didn't take to it.
> We found our house via an estate agent long established(Spanish) and respectable who had done business with my family for over a decade.
> We started paying a rent we thought rather high and after our first year stated we would stay only if the rent was reduced by 500 euros a month. This was accepted as our landlord knew by then he would not find better, more reliable tenants.
> He is a good landlord and we are good tenants. A fortuitous combination.


have u by any chance got an address or number we are heading to spain on 11th feb for a week

mick


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mickhailes said:


> hi i will be ok i been disabled for the years with an amputation of my leg fractured skull punctured spine among others
> but yes the cuts are going to hit people hard
> i think we should be saying good luck to each other we will need it
> 
> mick


I have a feeling that all of the DLA isn't transferable - just the care bit

not totally sure - best to check with the relevant dept.


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## mickhailes (Feb 3, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> I have a feeling that all of the DLA isn't transferable - just the care bit
> 
> not totally sure - best to check with the relevant dept.


will do xabiachica thank u


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

mickhailes said:


> hi i will be ok i been disabled for the years with an amputation of my leg fractured skull punctured spine among others
> but yes the cuts are going to hit people hard
> i think we should be saying good luck to each other we will need it
> 
> mick


The cuts won't affect me but interest rates and the sterling rate do!!
But yes, things will be tough in the UK - as they are in Spain.
The Coalition is cutting too deep and too fast.


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## mickhailes (Feb 3, 2011)

mrypg9 said:


> The cuts won't affect me but interest rates and the sterling rate do!!
> But yes, things will be tough in the UK - as they are in Spain.
> The Coalition is cutting too deep and too fast.


yes this coalition seems to be on a distruction course
there only out for themselves,they not bothered bout our countries just as long as there opk

mick


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Jak1 said:


> Cannot post a link here, to show you rentals in Spain


no matter - there are links to national websites on the 'useful links' sticky thread


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## naphtali (Feb 8, 2012)

hi we are hoping to move to spain.as soon as we sell our house here in north wales.we have been to torrevieja,and we would like to live at Villamartin.in costal Blanca,we want to rent first.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Google enalquiler and fotocasa

Both sites have tons of long lets in those areas!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

naphtali said:


> hi we are hoping to move to spain.as soon as we sell our house here in north wales.we have been to torrevieja,and we would like to live at Villamartin.in costal Blanca,we want to rent first.


Two points;

one, if you are looking for work, stay home. In any case do not sell your house. Rent.
Unemployment is high here, I'm guessing you speak no Spanish. Your chances of getting a job if you need one are virtually zero.
two, going anywhere on holiday is nothing remotely like living there. Have you thought about health care, to give just one example? You will not automatically qualify for free care.

I know it's grim in the UK but as someone on another post says, think long and hard. 
It's cold in Spain now and the economic climate is colder still.
35% unemployed in my area - five million Spanish people are looking for work.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

mrypg9 said:


> That's why we intend to stay here for a few more years - four or five - then have a shortish period in rural France before finally crawling off or being carried to the UK, to Glasgow, OH's home town.
> Scottish health care and general care for the old and decrepit is extremely good.
> And of course you can get excellent quality food of all kinds in the UK.
> Judging from some posts you'd think that only in Spain can one find decent fresh fruit, veg, fish etc.
> Of course quality here is good....just as it is in the UK if you shop carefully and are looking for the 'right' foodstuffs.



Oh Charlee...that post is a year old.
Since then our plans have changed and we shall end our days here in Spain. I spent a week in Glasgow last April at a Conference and the extreme cold put me off completely. I had forgotten what it was like...
Since then I have experienced Spanish health care (regional) which is as good as any in the UK if not better. OH has used private healthcare which was not that expensive and very good.
We are considering driving to France for a month's holiday - my son helped a friend renovate a couple of houses in a village in la France profonde....but we shall return home to Spain.


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