El blog de Maria

I am transcribing here part of an email conversation with a member of EOS today. Her words in black, our answers in green.  

Hello,

My partner and I recently retired. We do not have enough cash to buy a home in Spain, and a mortgage at the age of  66 is a little daunting. We shall be staying in ******* for several months in the next couple of months or so, and whilst there, will be looking for a long-term rental property.

I am told that under Spanish law, we can only stay in a rental property for 11 months, and then it is reviewed. That is not correct.

1).   Does this mean that we can, on the review, stay there another 11 months, and so on, for the rest of our lives? (as long as the owner agrees)

Of course not. That is not the case.

Spanish Rental Laws give special protection to rented houses used as homes with legal extensions of up to 5 and 3 subsequent years.

Owners use the 11 months deadline on a wrong understanding that this  will avoid  the contract to be unbder forced extension rules of the Urban Rental Act and will allow them to evict the tenants once this period has ellapsed. This is not the case.

If you have rented a house as a home, whatever the period is, you are entitled to the extensions of the Urban Rental Act. 

2) Do we need to notify anyone in the local Town Hall of our intention to stay, and is there any legal paperwork we need to complete? It is advisable that you are registered in Padron at  the Local Council.

Tarifa, Costa de la Luz, Spain by elarequi61 at Flickr.com