Real estate maintenance costs in Spain are made up of the direct expenses in relation to living in your newly bought property, taxes and insurance fees.
Direct expenses on maintaining a real estate in Spain:
All apartment owners in Spain are obliged to pay the established household fees. These include all bills for lighting, cleaning, disposition of garbage, elevator maintenance, etc. Monthly fees vary from 20 up to 500 € depending on the size of the territory and the number of facilities the household possesses. Garbage disposal tax is included in this fee.
Home owners have to pay garbage disposal tax on their own, usually this amount is from 50 up to 200 €. The gardener fee on a territory of app. 1500m2 and swimming pool maintenance costs vary from 200 up to 1500 €/per month depending on the surface and type of vegetation on the plot.
As for the the utilities costs in Spain (water,gas,electricity, telephone connection, internet) - each property owner is responsible for making contracts with the relevant providers. These costs include a subscription fee for the connection and rates for the consumed resources. Subscription fees depend on the power of the connected line, on average it is between 10-30 €/a month for each resource. Water and electricity rates can vary from one municipality to another, and the price is usually 8-15 cents /kWh for electricity and from 30 cents / cubic meter for water. Subscription fees for internet use with limitless internet use and land line is around 45 €/per month.
Electricity charges in an apartment usually range from 200-300 € per 100m2 during the hot summer months, taking into account frequent air conditioning usage, and are around 100 € during the winter months. In the majority of apartments in Spain, water heating is provided for by individual gas water heaters. Gas expenses, counting active heating in winter, are a little bit less than summer air conditioning expenses. Water costs, given active usage without plant watering, usually don't exceed 60-80 €/month
Home owners water expenses depend largely on the number of the plants to water and pool size. Gas expenses in the house are very similar to those in an apartment. In homes where there is no access to natural gas, diesel fuel is used instead to heat the water. Depending on the type of heater, gas costs can be 1,1 - 1,5 times higher than using natural gas.
Real Estate Insurance in Spain
Real Estate Insurance is voluntary in Spain. Nevertheless, if you buy a property using a mortgage, you will have to insure it according to the sum of the mortgage. Yearly insurance payments are usually 0,1 - 0,15% of the insured sum.
Real estate taxes in Spain
Non-residents who own property in Spain are obliged to pay 2 taxes to the Spanish treasury: land value tax (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuelbles-IBI) and income tax (is obligatory even if the property brings you no income)
Land value tax (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles – IBI)
This municipal tax is equivalent to the cadastral value of the real estate. Cadastral value of real estate in Spain is usually lower than its market value. The amount of the tax is determined by the municipality and differs depending on the property from 0,4 till 2% of the cadastral value.
Within a year after the purchase of real estate in Spain, the buyer needs to personally pay the land value tax at the municipality. Starting from the second year, it’s possible to arrange monthly automatic withdrawals from your bank account.
Imputed Income tax
Imputed Income tay is a state tax. All real estate owners who are not Spanish residents are obliged to pay imputed income tax on its ownership, which is 2 % of its cadastral value if the owner earns income by renting the property. This tax is obligatory even if you don't rent out your property and it doesn’t bring you any income. The amount of the tax is then 25% of the income which is 0,5% of the cadastral value of your apartment or house.