Electricity & Water Charges

Just looking at my latest bills. Maybe this info will give you an approx. idea of what to expect:

Electricity (every 2 months) 5.5kw supply, standing charge €17.49 plus equipment rental €1.20, plus IVA (VAT) @ 16% = €21.68 (plus charges based on usage)

Water (every 3 months) standing charge €7.75, "sanitation" €3.31, "purification" €1.37, plus IVA @ 7% = €10.81 (plus charges based on usage)

Included on your water bill may be a "Basura" (rubbish collection) charge, in my case, €37.76, plus an amount based on my water consumption.

My municipality gives a fairly substantial discount on water and basura charges for anyone who is registered on the "padron" at the town hall, so it may well be worth registering, or at least finding out if any discounts are available in your area. My total water/basura bill for 3 months came to €47 after all the applicable discounts, so you can see it's well worth it.

Hope this info helps a bit. Remember though, this will vary from one area to another, so it's only a very approximate idea for you.

Cheers

Thanks for the tip re the "Padron" we are registered so must look out for that and see if we are intitled to any discount.

Your figures will give us something to budget on anyway, thanks.

I'm going back to my post of April 2nd on this thread, in case anyone wonders what this is about!

I have finally finished renovating the apartment, and the last job has been to get the boletin to certify that the electric installation is all legal and meets current standards and legislation. I don't think many people bother going to the lengths I have, but I believe in doing things properly. At least in my area, and therefore probably in others before long, it's now impossible to change the name on an electric contract without a boletin, so I think this is something that estate agents ought to be checking out when listing a property. It's certainly something I will bear in mind if buying an older property again, because even if someone tells you the electrics are new, they may have just changed the sockets and switches to give that impression. To get a boletin the property will be subject to an inspection to ensure that the installation does in fact meet the current requirements. If it doesn't, it could mean expensive work needs to be done.

It's not been easy to find out what those regulations are (I can supply some info, in Spanish, for anyone who is interested or needs it) and inevitably there was something missing on the first inspection. Having corrected that, the authorised electrician doing the inspection told us there was another mistake in the connection, which is typical - no way could he have told us everything in one go! But, at least he didn't charge anything until we got everything in order, and then only the original quoted price for issuing a boletin which was €150.

But here's the really interesting bit. He asked me what name I wanted the boletin to be put in, and I shrugged and said it was unimportant, since the contract is still in the previous owners name, and I don't intend changing it to mine, since I'm selling the property and the new owner can change it directly into their name using the boletin. He told me that the boletin is issued to the person named, with which he can go to Sevillana to change the contract into his name, but if I sell the property to somebody else, they will have to get a new boletin in their name if they then want to change the contract to their name. Even though a boletin has already been issued for the property. Definitely seems to me like money for old rope.

Still, at least I have a certificate which proves that the property will pass any inspection, thereby backing up my claim, that it has been completely and properly re-wired. So I see it as a kind of guarantee, and quite possibly a unique seling point.

By the way, the inspection consisted of opening the fuse box and looking at the connections within it. Nothing else! €150 for 2 minutes "work". Nice! So after all, you'll have to take my word that the cables in the walls are in fact all new!!!

Can anyone explain how the charging for water is dealt with in Spain. We completed end of October and paid the connection charges early November. How are the ongoing water bills made up. Is it a standing charge then you are metered for the rest or is it just a set amoun each month.

We just had to pay another 18.57 euros for this month yet we have not been to the apartment since we completed. So i prsesume this must be the amount you pay every month regardless of the fact if you have used water or not.