Experiences from people who are renting their properties in GB to fund life in Spain please!

You can live quite well on 1200. I also rent out my property but you do have to save up just incase there is a void period and that will always happen a month or two, so make sure you put a bit away and also for any repairs to the house. I think renting your property is a good idea, do not be talked into selling it. Try it for a year or so and see how you go. You could try and supplement your income a bit by perhaps dog walking or cat or house sitting.

My advice is try it and see how you get on. Bill will be about 150. Not sure if you are going to run a car or not, but a bike would be very useful. After rent you will hve 850 left plenty to live on in my opionion.

Hi Shiningight

Don'l do it !

With only ONE property for your survival in the good life, your risk is like the red/black casino gambling.

Get a bad tenant and you are stuffed - the law is a total ass and will be of no help to the landlord.

With MORE properties you should be ok even then you may wish to employ the services of

Mr Mike Tyson to insure the smooth running of your business as  court action does not work - period.  

Good luck in your retirement.

Magicwriter, it would seem you too have misunderstood the pension changes. If you are approaching 60, depending on your birthdate, your retirement age was at best 64, and probably 65. I agree we are allowed to be a bit angry of the sudden acceleration to 66. But given it was announced in 1995, so retirement (then) would have been  2020, we have 25 years to plan for it.

Midasgold, I agree it's a bit of a punt for Shininglight, given she only has one property. But that depends on what level of savings she has if she is only planning to do it for a year or so, pending a final decision. But very naughty of you to suggest she should break the law. The law does work, provided you follow correct procedure, but takes time and money.

If you live near a University it is worth considering renting to students, the benifits are;

 You will make more money from two or three house sharing.

The students parents usually pay their rent monthly by standing order, as they don't want their kids to have housing problems whilst they are at uni.

After two years they move on & you can review the rent.

The furniture you provide does not need to be " top quality " acceptable will do.

You will not have to re advertise as before the end of their first year the students in halls are actively seeking rental property for house sharing.

I think that some universities operate an approved list of landlords & properties, & offer some sort of management/insurance scheme.

Every room in the house can be decorated with magnolia emulsion paint & carpet tiles for easy redecoration.

I suppose the disadvantage is that you may have to do a "blitz" before new tenants take over, although the property has to be left in reasonable order for the tennants to get their full deposit back.

I have rented UK property for more than 20 years whilst living overseas.  Be careful when choosing your letting agent because going to a big national real estate agents guarantees you nothing (I know I am currently experiencing poor service from one).  It is the actual person and not the company who will make the difference to how your property is managed.

The other thing to be wary of is that by law the tenants deposit has to be placed in one the official deposit schemes.  If the tenants takes things from your home, damages it etc then these scheme invariable err on the side of the tenant.  Event if you have a comprehensive inventory with photographs you cannot count on being compensated in line with your loss (my experience tells me that after a struggle on paper you will be lucky to get 10% of your loss).

I know this sounds negative and I have not even touched on the subject of tenants who don´t pay but for me it does contribute to running costs so I continue renting but in no way would I like to rely on the income.

I can give the following tips on a couple of  important aspect. INSIST on having tracable references, and do not accept ANY reasons for a prospective tenant not to give them. Excuses such as having arrived from living abroad, first time I have rented etc etc should not be accepted. Another advice is to ask for their previous or curent landlord AND the one before that. Reason is that the current landlord will give a good recommendation just to get rid of them!

Hi

Just wanted to say I agree with all the advice given re: taking caution with regard to rentals, tenants etc. but wanted to let you know that you can now contribute 60 euros per month towards any health care you may require in Spain. Our neighbours are not yet of pensionable age and they have chosen to join this relatively new scheme. I'm not sure of how to do this but no doubt someone on the forum will be able to help.

Very best wishes with whatever you decide..

Hi I have been renting out properties in the UK for over 20 years if you use a reputable rental agency they credit check the prospective tenants  and take up references. The agency deals with all the tenancy agreements legal yearly gas checks etc.  the usually charge between 10 and 16 %  of the monthly rental income per monthfor there services. They also organise minor breakdowns and repairs.  for additional peace of mind you can take out landlords insurance to insure you against loss of rent should your tenants default on their payments as well as all the legal fees if you should need to take tenants  to court. All of which I must say I have not experienced in all the time I have been letting properties. The insurance costs about 350 pounds a year.

If you have paid national insurance contributions  for two years prior to moving to spain you are allowed two years free health care here in spain. Talk to Newcastle pension department for further information. After that cover ceases you have to pay private health care or join the local comunidades health scheme. Here in valencia you pay them about 65 euros a month and then your fully covered. Finally if you have a partner who is of pensionable age you can apply for free health care as there dependant again talk to newcastle. Good luck with your move 

I have been lucky enough to buy a house in UK to rent out and one in Spain to live in. I just make sure I have enough in the rental account to factor in unexpected repairs. It always happens!!

If poss I would wait until your state pension kicks in and then save your private pension for emergencies.

Good Luck

Edburton, the residual 2 years free healthcare was stopped last year. Under pension age retirees now need to pay for private cover for at least the first year, then they should be able to get onto the Spanish paying system, you and KatieD mention. But to do that, they must have signed onto the EU citizens register.