In a bid to revive its struggling economy, Spain is opening its doors to wealthy investors and this could spell great things for expats with a little cash to spare for a good investment.
Article written by The Overseas Guides Company
Spain, Europe’s fourth largest economy, has racked up a huge amount of debt which has led to the implementation of particularly strict austerity measures and hundreds of thousands of job losses. In addition to this, house prices have been reduced by as much as 40 per cent as Spain’s banks opt to cut mortgage financing.
In order to rake in more much needed cash, the Spanish government have decided to target foreign investment and are in the process of encouraging landlords to buy properties with the intention of renting them out.
Currently, Spanish rental laws are considered heavily out-dated and weighted towards the rights of the tenants. Despite this, new legislation is in the pipeline which restores power to the landlords including strict conditions giving tenants just 10 short days to pay their arrears before landlords are entitled to evict them. In addition, property owners will also be able to regain possession of their home after just two months’ notice.
A further proposed change which could really mix things up is cutting the tenant’s right to live in the home down to three years (from the current five) with an extra one year’s agreed extension as opposed to the three year extension period that currently stands.
In order to entice foreign landlords, tax relief of 60-100 per cent will be offered on rental income on the proviso that the property is let to working people under the age of 30.
Data released by Spain’s Ministry of Development demonstrates that purchases by foreigners were up by 12 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the same time frame in 2011. The top areas to buy included Alicante, Malaga and Barcelona.
It seems that Spain still ranks highly in list of desirable places to buy due to its proximity to the UK, its weather and obviously, the strength of the pound against the euro.
For details of property for sale all over Spain, visit the Spanish listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying in Spain is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into euros to complete the purchase of your property. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange or visit the Currency Zone.
To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Spain, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Spain Property Buying Guide’
The views and comments herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Rightmove Overseas, Rightmove Group Ltd or Rightmove Plc