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My wife and I are looking to retire in Spain early next year and being an avid golfer are looking to buy on or near the Roda golf resort! Any advise on cost of living and the buying process is much appreciated.
First of all, if you are retiring to live in Spain, then you will need a Non Lucrative Visa (NLV), which basically requires you to prove that you have enough money to live on (in fact, it requires quite a bit more - for a couple c.€34,500 pa - than most people could happily live on); you need to have private healthcare, a criminal record check, medical certificate, etc. This process will take about 3 months and will cost around £1,000 for a couple if you do it yourself, more if you need a solicitor to help you; plus the costs of obtaining some of the documents, translations, healthcare cost, etc.
The process for buying a property is not dissimilar to the UK, but costs more. You should allow 12%-13% on top of the purchase price to pay for all the associated costs - the main one of these being the property purchase tax, which is 8%-9%, compared to, say, 1.5% for Stamp Duty in the UK. If you are selling your home in the UK, then you need to get your timing right, as if you sell it in the same tax year as you buy a property in Spain, you could be charged Capital Gains Tax in Spain.
The cost of living is, in my opinion, a little lower than in the UK. Electricity is similar, fuel for a car is slightly lower, car tax lower. Council Tax (IBI) is a lot lower, food in supermarkets is similar, eating out a little lower, alcohol a lot cheaper.
Hope this helps - and when you have started to research more on the above, happy to answer any further questions!
RichT wrote on Mon Mar 7, 2022 10:27am:
First of all, if you are retiring to live in Spain, then you will need a Non Lucrative Visa (NLV), which basically requires you to prove that you have enough money to live on (in fact, it requires quite a bit more - for a couple c.€34,500 pa - than most people could happily live on); you need t...
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...o have private healthcare, a criminal record check, medical certificate, etc. This process will take about 3 months and will cost around £1,000 for a couple if you do it yourself, more if you need a solicitor to help you; plus the costs of obtaining some of the documents, translations, healthcare cost, etc.
The process for buying a property is not dissimilar to the UK, but costs more. You should allow 12%-13% on top of the purchase price to pay for all the associated costs - the main one of these being the property purchase tax, which is 8%-9%, compared to, say, 1.5% for Stamp Duty in the UK. If you are selling your home in the UK, then you need to get your timing right, as if you sell it in the same tax year as you buy a property in Spain, you could be charged Capital Gains Tax in Spain.
The cost of living is, in my opinion, a little lower than in the UK. Electricity is similar, fuel for a car is slightly lower, car tax lower. Council Tax (IBI) is a lot lower, food in supermarkets is similar, eating out a little lower, alcohol a lot cheaper.
Hope this helps - and when you have started to research more on the above, happy to answer any further questions!
Thank you so much for your response we find it extremely helpful.
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