Posted: Mon Jul 6, 2020 4:42pm
Hi Jim,
Nothing I would change at all - we love it here! But there are things I would have done differently, had we had more time, such as starting Spanish lessons in the UK.
As early retirees, the costs are quite high. For example, we're 59 and 62, so we don't qualify for an S1 yet and we're not eligible for the Spanish health service, so we have to pay for private health care (€890 each p.a.). Personal tax allowances are lower in Spain, so any income - in our case, my husband's RAF pension and my rental income - will probably result in a higher tax bill. Banking in Spain is not free, unless you have a pension paid direct from the UK and are happy to buy another of their products, such as an over-priced insurance.
On the plus side, our Council tax - called IBI in Spain and, in this region, often mistakenly called SUMA (which is actually the collecting agency) is only €365 (it was almost £3,000k in 2016 in the UK). Food is roughly the same price, alcohol is cheaper. Electricity is more expensive, but gas (mostly bottled) is much cheaper. Fibre optic internet and telephone packages are cheaper in Spain, although location can affect the level of service you're able to receive. If you buy a property on a 'community'with shared facilities, such as a swimming pool, you will have to pay community fees, so it's worth finding out what these are when you're looking at properties.
Public transport is virtually non-existent when you go inland from the Costas, but is quite good along the coast in this area because of our proximity to Alicante airport.
In terms of your budget, property purchase tax in Spain is expensive at 10% of the purchase price (in the Valencia autonomous region), so assume 13% of your budget will need to be set aside for that plus legal fees: abogado (lawyer), notary and land registry. So, if your top budget is €100k, you'll be looking at properties costing around €88k. Because of the high cost of purchase tax and estate agents' fees (typically between 3% and 6%), it's important to get your purchase right first time, so you may want to consider renting for, say, 6 months initially to get a feel for locations.
The coastal towns I'd recommend in this area are Santa Pola, Guardamar and La Mata. There are some other areas further north on the Costa Blanca, such as Denia and El Campello that I like, but this is totally subjective and may not suit you.
I've tried to give you a broad range of things to consider, but do let us know if you need more detail. I'm sure others can offer views on location.
As I mentioned to Sharon, the financial requirements for third-country nationals, which UK citizens applying for Spanish residency become on 1 January 2021, are much higher than currently. However, the Spanish government issued new instructions at the weekend, stating that new applicants from today, 6 July, have to apply for a TIE (Tarjeta de Indentidad Extranjero - foreigner's ID card), instead of the green Residencia cards that we were issued as EU citizens. What they haven't said yet is whether the current financial requirements will continue to the end of the year, so it's worth keeping an eye on the forum for developments.
I appreciate that I've given you a lot to think about, but I hope it helps.
Kind regards,
Kim
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