Letting Licence - Does it actually exist ?

[MinRich]

Seen it mentioned on here many times , So is there such a thing as a "Letting Licence" . If so how does a house owner get one and how much does it cost ?

Are there any bargains out there ? What is the best website to find Bank Repossessions or similar ?

[woe10]

I believe they have suspended all new letting licences for the fore-seeable future.

[MinRich]

I believe they have suspended all new letting licences for the fore-seeable future.

So does the licence go with the house or the person who owns the house ?

I have never seen a holiday property in Fuerteventura advertised with one as a selling point , anyone else seen one advertised ?

[fifi]

The moratorium on villa licenses is over and villa owners can once again  apply for a license if they are more than 200 metres from the sea . There were ammendments to the 1995 Law made in May this year. There are no real changes to the situation with Residential units as far as I am aware and the situation with Touristic apartments still needs clarification from the Lawyers. It has not been fully translated into English yet. It is a bit of a waiting game I am afraid but hopefully all will be clear in time. For up to date news see Janet Anscombes website. She has a team of Lawyers advising her and so the information is always spot on. http://www.janetanscombe.com/illegal-letting-in-the-canaries

[MinRich]

The moratorium on villa licenses is over and villa owners can once again  apply for a license if they are more than 200 metres from the sea . There were ammendments to the 1995 Law made in May this year. There are no real changes to the situation with Residential units as far as I am aware and the situation with Touristic apartments still needs clarification from the Lawyers. It has not been fully translated into English yet. It is a bit of a waiting game I am afraid but hopefully all will be clear in time. For up to date news see Janet Anscombes website. She has a team of Lawyers advising her and so the informtaion is always spot on. http://www.janetanscombe.com/illegal-letting-in-the-canaries

Fifi - thanks

It is quite understandable that a "Tax" is payable on income earned on rental property aswell as all other income . Spain and the Canaries seem to have allowed this to occur for many years , i couldn't see this ocurring in the UK .

The reason we ask is that we would like a property in Fuerteventura and would like to earn some income from it during the busy period May-Sep every year (We would not use it during this period) We would want the property to stand out from the rest and hence would invest quite heavily in it . This investment of our cash would be part of our retirement fund and would need to earn a little from it . We will keep a close eye on the website you mention above.

So next question 

What type of property would be most sought after by Holiday Rentals in Fuerteventura ?

[fifi]

Personally I would advise everyone at the moment to not buy apartments with a view to holiday letting until the situation is made clear. If some of the older complexes which have lost their licenses have enough owners to make up the percentage needed to operate with a sole agent there will still be the problem of who pays for all of the upgrades to make the complexes pass the various health and safety standards tests. To operate  as a Tourist complex again they would need to man reception desks etc and all of these costs would need to be paid by the individual owners because as an owner of an apartment you also share  all of these community costs. It could run into hundreds of thousands of euros to upgrade them and there is no guarantee that a license will be given. Just my opinion. If you are considering buying an apartment I would recommend reading  the Horizontal laws also. http://www.alteanatura.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=68

There will always be a good holiday letting market for villas in a nice location but  if you are thinking of trying to obtain a license there are no guarantees that you will get one.

There are taxes to be paid when you do NOT let out your property also MinRich. At the moment it is legal to let out any kind of property for three months or more so perhaps that would be an option for you. You may need an Energy Certificate so read up on those too. See Links and Laws on the Forum for details.http://www.fuerteventura-forum.com/index.php?topic=16451.0

[fifi]

Here are a few additional links for you MinRich with really useful and up to date  information. I recommend studying the Inheritance laws carefully as there are a few surprises in it.

http://www.janetanscombe.com/death-and-taxes.html

http://www.janetanscombe.com/notarial-system-costs-2

[MinRich]

Well having thought long and hard about the prospect of buying our own Fuerteventura Property over the last few years and getting to the point of finding out more it seems that there are several obstacles , the main one being about the inheritance rules and the taxes payable . It appears to be too costly to justify the initial outlay , to just rent a property seems our likely way forward unless there are some changes .
Has anyone else been put off by this ?

[ashworth]

Your best investment option is to buy a villa on the golf course. There is no season. It is full of golfers in the winter and families and couples in the summer. Most of the villas rent out for over 40 weeks a year, you just get someone to manage it for you and with your free holidays for you and your friends you have a fantastic investment. Forget about inheritance tax and all that nonsense. You come into the world with nothing and that's they way you should go out of it..

[soleil]

This was in the Mail online:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2523474/Brits-holiday-homes-Spain-France-banned-renting-tourists.html

[MinRich]

Spain need somebody new in their PR department

They need to get more people investing in their country not putting them off

The situation in Spain etc has put us off for good from buying a property to use for holidays and rent a bit to get some of the outlay back