A second closed residence has three regular spending blocks: taxes and insurance (IBI, home insurance), supplies with a fixed share but no consumption, and maintenance of pool and garden if they have them. To that are added the faults of an empty house - damp, frost, pipes - that come out more expensive the later they are detected. The most direct way for the house to stop subtracting is for someone to use and pay for using it: managed tourist, fixed rental with a company, or seasonal rental.
The flat expenses you pay even if you don't go
A closed house continues to generate two receipts that do not depend on using them: IBI and family insurance. El IBI se calcula sobre el valor catastral con un tipo que fija cada ayuntamiento —entre el 0,4 % y el 1,10 % para inmuebles urbanos, según el artículo 72 del texto refundido de la Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2004)—, así que el importe exacto varía de un municipio a otro y solo lo sabes con certeza mirando tu propio recibo o la ordenanza fiscal local. El seguro de hogar es obligatorio si la casa tiene hipoteca y muy recomendable si no la tiene: una vivienda vacía tarda más en detectar una fuga o un incendio incipiente que una que se usa a diario.
To this we have to add them with a fixed share: most light companies have a share of power contracted independently of consumption and the same with water in many municipalities with a minimum billing. To cut the supply completely saves that share but it complicates to re-activate and removes the option to maintain a minimum heating or an anti-frost in winter.
Pool and garden: the most undervalued cost
If the house has a pool, maintenance doesn't stop because nobody takes a bath: we have to continue to treat water during the summer, put it back into good winter at the end of the season and check the purifier before re-opening. Without maintenance a few seasons usually end up with a much more expensive repair than the annual maintenance that was saved. The garden has the same pattern: irrigation, panda and leaf cleanliness are still necessary though nobody enjoys space, and an neglected plot is the first thing to be felt from outside and what devalues most the image of the house in front of neighbours and potential buyers.
Abbreviations of an empty house: moisture, frost, pipes
The saw and field houses have an added problem in winter: temperatures under zero for consecutive days. Without a minimum heating or an anti-ice system, exposed pipes can blow up and damage cannot be found until someone reopens his house weeks later with the ground already affected. The moisture due to lack of ventilation is the other classic: a closed housing accumulates condensation in toilets and kitchens, and with time spots, mold and odors appear that cost far more to remove than to prevent. Both of them have been tipsy to avoid - a regular visit, ventilate, leave a scheduled minimum heating - but if nobody goes home, nobody detects them in time.
Annual example at a house in the Sierra West or Greds
Without inventing a unique figure - the IBI, insurance and pool maintenance vary greatly from house to house - the pattern is repeated in all families of this profile that we see in Sierra Oeste de Madrid, Gredos, Valle del Tietar and Segovia: local tax + insurance + supplies with a fixed share + maintenance of pool and garden if they have them, more an unexpected game of malfunctions that in an empty house usually appears before an empty place that's used. It's a sum of true expenses against a real use of housing for a few weeks a year, usually in summer and some bridge.
Tres formas de que la casa se pague sola
There are three different ways for these expenses to stop coming out of your pocket alone:
- Fitted rental: Others manage reserves, cleanliness and maintenance, and you charge as required by the housing. The income varies with the season but you keep the house available to you out of the dates you block.
- Fixed rental with a company (fixed rental): you rent the house by contract and another operates it and you get the same rent every month, full or empty the house and maintenance from day to day ceases to be yours while the contract lasts.
- Season rental: A tenant occupies the house several months a year with a seasonal contract (article 3 of the Act 29 / 1994 of Urban Leases) and with no tourist activity by means.
What's best depends how much your own use you want to preserve and whether you prefer a fixed figure or a variable but potentially higher income in high season. You can see the details of the rental option with contract and maintenance included, rental of your house in the countryside.
FAQ
What's the IBI for a second residence?
Depende del valor catastral de la vivienda y del tipo que fije tu ayuntamiento. Por ley (artículo 72 del texto refundido de la Ley Reguladora de las Haciendas Locales, Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2004), el tipo de gravamen para inmuebles urbanos se mueve entre el 0,4 % y el 1,10 % del valor catastral, y cada ayuntamiento aprueba el suyo dentro de esa horquilla en su ordenanza fiscal. Para saber el importe exacto de tu casa hay que mirar el recibo del año pasado o la ordenanza de tu municipio: no hay una cifra única para toda España.
Can I put down light or water while I'm not using the house?
You can, but get bigger every time you put her back up and complicate things as basic as an anti-ice system in winter or a dehumidifier. Most owners who have their house closed keep their supply with as low a power contract as possible rather than completely cut them.
What's broken up most in an unused house?
Fairy pits in winter if there's no minimum heating, moist for lack of ventilation, and installations that miss without anyone noticing till there's a big damage: a water leak, a tidal move, a tap pool bomb. A house that is visited and danced every week ages better than one that opens once a month.
Do you make up for keeping the pool if you aren't using it all year?
The maintenance costs of a swimming pool are low but do not have a bath: we have to continue to treat water, cover or empty it properly for winter and check the purifier before spring. If you're not going to use it, it makes more sense for a guest to use it and pay for it than to stop it.
Do something change if the house is rustic and non-urban for IBI purposes?
Yes: The same article 72 lays down a minimum rate of 0,3 % and maximum of 0,90 % for rustic properties, something lower than urban. The cadastral classification of your plot (urban or rustic) is the one that decides what tiquette applying, and checks your town hall or the Catastro, and not you with an eye.
Are we talking about your villa or a rural house?
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