Residencia

Hi Anita,

Let me say first of all is to take a relaxed view of coming to live in Spain. Most people on the forum will suggest that you rent for at least the first year and the reason for that is you might not like the area you first chose or your neighbours might not be to your liking. A 2 bedroom apartment will be around €500 Per month plus electric. 

If you decide to come to live in Spain you need to apply for residency within the first 90 days of arriving in Spain. To achieve residency you will need to prove you have a regular income paid into a Spanish bank which is enough to satisfy the authorities that you won't become a burden on the state. 

You will need full healthcare, which (if you are in receipt of uk pension) you can get through the S1 form from the Overseas healthcare department of the UK national health service. 

You will need an NIE number which is issued by the office that is dealing with the residency application. 

I strongly suggest you employ the services of a solicitor to guide you through the process of making an application for residency. That may cost you around €200.

Read "Jim's Guides" that can be found in the drop down list in the menu at the top left corner.

Steve 

Thank you Steve I appreciate your response  I was hoping to get to Spain in March until the virus stopped the world in its tracks  I will have around £1100 per month income plus money in bank so  need to buy as cheaply as poss  obviously inland but close to everything socially 

Hi Anita,

You should be able to live fairly comfortable with that income. The cost of living here is slightly less than the UK  but with the exchange rate being a bit low just now the cost of living is about equal to the UK. 

Don't leave it to late before you put everything in motion as after brexit things could be very different to gain residency here.

Steve 

Hi Steve thank you for your response I know I need to sell my house but want to  get to look around some areas then come back to UK to hopefully get a quick sale but with everything that's happening at the moment it's delayed my plans but I'm hoping I can get over August for a look around 

My personal view is rent first. You say yourself "If I find something that I THINK is suitable should I buy". Buying something which could turn out to be totally unsuitable will be a very expensive mistake and you could be stuck with it for months, if not years.
The December 31st deadline will probably mean a lot of people rush in and make mistakes. It is totally different living here than just holidaying and renting will give you breathing space to really get to know the areas and how neighbourhoods change with the seasons. There is every chance that property prices here will at least stall and there are thousands of homes up for sale all the time so a year's rental will be a good investment in the long term and you can leave the sale of your UK home in the hands of the estate agent, it will count as an asset for your Residency application.
From reading the forum, many did the same as we did, sat in the UK looking at properties having roughly narrowed down the area but mainly concentrating on the properties themselves. When we actually visited, most of them were rejected for one reason or another. The house we ended up buying we had crossed off our viewing list before we came over!
Keep reading the forum because the same problems crop up again and again

Hi Anita ,I think there is an important issue regarding Tax becoming liable in Spain on the property sale in the UK if the sale completes within six months of gaining Spanish Residency.

Others will likely know more and Jim's Guides here should be consulted.

LeckyLes 

I thought this was the issue with moving in the second half of the year. If you move in the first half of the year you automatically become tax resident in Spain for the whole of that year but if you move in the second half you remain a UK tax resident until the following January. I'm not sure if they use the date you moved over or the date you obtain Residency.

Hola Cheryl thank you for your response I will have to sell my property in order to even rent in Spain as I can't afford to rent there's well as pay my mortgage here until it sells  so its a stressful situation but at least if I can come over to look around I'm pretty sure I will get a feel for what is right  that's what happened with buying this house it just felt right been here 17 years now. But it's my time to move forwards I'm hoping August I can come over and meed a few ex pats to ask a few questions over a drink to find out a little more 💃