Talk Quesada forum

Hi guys. I am considering buying a place in quesada can anyone give me a realistic cost of yearly expenses for owning one please ie community fees and council tax ?

Community fees vary greatly. Some as low as 120 euro a year and others as high as 1000 euro a year plus. Depends on the facilities, swimming pools, lifts in apartment blocks, amount of area etc. You would really need to do your homework on this.

Council tax or IBI depends on the rateable value of your property but is not something to worry about. On a 3 bed property of 105 sq m I pay 242 euro a year.

Standing charges for electricity and water. You pay these regardless of if you use the property or not. No electric or water being used and you will pay (depending on how much you are contracted for) about 25 to 30 euro a month for electricity and the same per quarter for water. Our water bill is around 50 euro a quarter and our electric varies from 60 to 90 (depending on aircon and heating use) euro a month. The rubbish collection tax is around 80 euro a year. If you are going to be a non resident then you have imputed income tax (benefit on owning property) which is again dependent on rateable value but 80 euro a year per owner (2 owners total 160 so 80 each) per year.

House insurance and car insurance about the same as you'd pay in UK (could be more now with the pound being so low). Annual road tax between 40 and 45 euro a year but higher for big gas guzzlers.

Altogether, as a permanent resident with a car, my bills come to around €2,000 to €2500 a year.

When looking at property, ask what the community fees are for that particular property. Even within a community the rates will vary depending on the size. Within our community they range from €340 a year to €1100 a year (2 bed top floor flat with no lift up to 4 bed semi-detached with large garden).

Thanks very much for that info greatly appreciated. I am not going to be s resident just a holiday home. I keep hearing the word suma is that a tax ?

matty wrote:Thanks very much for that info greatly appreciated. I am not going to be s resident just a holiday home. I keep hearing the word suma is that a tax ?

SUMA is the name of the organisation that collects local taxes on behalf of the local councils in the Alicante Province.
You will hear it called SUMA but it isn't. They collect the road tax and rubbish tax in about April time, they also collect the tax (very small) for having a no parking area outside your garage or driveway (anyone parking over it can be towed away).

They collect the IBI (equivalent of council tax) each year about September.

Your imputed income tax is collected by the Spanish regional tax office in (varies on area) November or thereabouts.

If you rent your property you do not pay the imputed income tax but you do pay tax on the rental income each quarter.

Thanks for that it's clearer now you have been a great help

If you wish to have internet (fibre optic) installed we pay around 30 euro a month ( more if you want phone/tv package) If you are not here you usually pay about 7 euro a month to keep your connection. We pay therefore about 360 euro a year ( less if you’re here part of the year) There are different companies offering this service so you can look around for best deals and offers. Internet may considered a luxury, but so many of us depend on it now, and kids are “lost” without their wi-fi !

We are moving out there in a few weeks time, we are budgeting at €100 a week for bills.

Mart 63 wrote:We are moving out there in a few weeks time, we are budgeting at €100 a week for bills.

Hi Mary, I'm just wondering how you came to the figure of 100 per week. What have you budgeted for. I'd be very interested in how you break it down to that amount. Many thanks in advance Paul

Its Mart, we have budgeted €100 as a top end. Anything less is a bonus.
2 bed detached villa with 1 bed self contained apt, swimming pool and outside bar.

Gas central heating, hot water and gas hob
electric and Air con, 3 units
Internet/internet tv
Car tax and insurance
House insurance
Heath insurace
Community fees
Water
Im sure there is more. So im thinking now is €100 enough.

Hi, thanks for the quick reply, sorry about the name, auto correct. Hope your new life in Spain goes well for you. Paul