Renting property as a retirement income - Page 2

Hi Liz

That's Utopia.  It doesn't exist. Ì rented my property here in Spain for years but had terrible trouble. You will meet Brits who have set up their own letting agency. Stay clear of them. No licence, no qualifications, no membership of any body. They only want your money.  I had a brit agent and his wife rented my house and I got no money for over a year.  I came out and confronted the tenant  who said she had no dealings with me , it was with the "agent".  She ordered me off the property.  The Police don't want to know. Some solicitors are dodgy also. Rent to holiday makers and they bring sand in all over the place. 

Go to a proper registered agent who has an office in town and who speaks English. The Brit builders and tradesmen are also out to rob their own. Ì can't advise you. It's too dodgy out here. Everybody is trying to rob you. Rent a place for a couple of months.  Then you need transport !!!.  It's not all sunshine.  Good luck in whatever you do.

I'm retired now and we come out every winter. I'm from Ireland. We spent about 20k renovating the house and don't rent anymore.

Looked at it a few years ago. Decided against.

We have a portfolio of rental properties in the UK, much more stable market, better returns and if the correct properties/area/clients is adhered to you there is no real issues in managing the business. 
That’s just our experience and may not be reflective of everyones circumstances but we’ve successfully rented London/Manchester area based properties for over 30 years.

Once Spanish resident you must make declaration of all assets which is subject to death duties when you pass.

Regards

Why would they pay CGT in the Uk?

When you sell your main home (or only home) you don't have to pay any CGT.

Hi aki1066

Because they have rental properties when you sell CGT is payable on the property unless you move into it.

If you have a property rented in Ireland it's  considered a business . Ì presume it's the same in the UK.  As for living off the rental income in Spain forget it. If the agent doesn't cheat you then possibly the tenant will. And you can't get them out even if they stop paying rent. The water and electricity companies won't cut off the services. If  they have children worse again.  And the rent you get will just pay your community charges local taxes and other built in charges. It's not all sunshine in Spain. Their taxes are higher. Keep your UK  property.  Put the money in your UK bank and draw it out on your debit card here in Spain.  Also the less they know here in Spain the better. If you have any Irish blood going back 3 generations get an Irish passport then you can come and go when it suits you.

The advice given here has deflated us, it was our intention to do the same and obtain the golden visa  buy our Villa plus 3-5 apartments and live off the rental income plus the rental income of our uk property minus the International school fees until the pensions kick in , seems the dream doesn’t reflect the reality reading some of the responses of people who are much well versed in these matters than mysel

I do think those tv shows have a lot to answer for.Some advice I was given many years by an Aussie,Remember boy,you’re going to have to work 10 x harder here because you’re an immigrant......true today as it was then....... and when working or running a business here you really need to speak good Spanish to get the best out of it.

There is no reason why your rentals (or other investments) cannot be in the UK. It’s relatively easy to access any part of the UK by the superb air connections if a need arises, and there should be little reason to do so if everything is set up.

As with all of these things the proper advice, both financial and legal is a must, and will assist you in making the right call.

Don’t let it stop your plans, there is always a solution to every hurdle.

Good luck with you’re future plans.

The issue is in order to obtain the golden visa the minimum investment into Spanish property is 500k euros . As far as I am aware that is the only route to gaining residency, obviously if my daughter goes to school in Spain we can’t run the risk of having to leave the country and changing schools again. Things may change with the law possibly but the law is what it is at the mome