Putting It Right – Corrective Actions in Tourist Board Registrations
A few people have emailed me to say that they are put off applying for registration, (it is a legal requirement if you take holiday rentals; not optional!!), as they are worried that their property will fail the inspection.
Most properties pass first time; more than 80% from the ones I have registered in 2018. However, if there are any ‘corrective actions’, these are listed at the inspection visit and I make the subsequent report to the owners.
It really is easy to put most things right and the inspectors are quite open to simple solutions. With my 12 years of experience in the rental sector, I usually have the answer in my problem-solving toolkit & help the owners to implement the small changes needed to meet the criteria.
One important point continues to be over occupancy in small rooms, as many people apply for a maximum number of guests that the property clearly is not suitable for. Just to refresh your memory:
Single person occupancy; one single bed. Minimum room size is 6mt square
Double occupancy, whether 2 single beds or one double, minimum room size is 8mt square
There also has to be a bathroom for every six guests.
Recently I have seen a couple of apartments fail where the owners have put a ‘triple sleeper’ in small bedrooms less than 7mt square. ‘Triple sleepers’ are the beds that have a double bed below and a single above; similar to bunk beds. As a 7mt sq room is considered single occupancy, then that is all you will be allowed to accept, although the bed will not necessarily need to be changed.
The Inspectors WANT your properties to pass the inspection. They are trying hard to improve both the consistency and quality of the accommodation on offer and to increase the number of legal holiday rentals in the province.
Remember that FROM THE MOMENT YOUR PAPERWORK IS SUBMITTED YOU ARE CONSIDERED LEGAL TO RENT.
Remember that the process takes some time (around 10 weeks from application to inspection), so to get through the inspection before your guests start to arrive in Spring, you need to be applying before the end of February at the latest.
The new law of June 2018 also means that any legal and professional rental agents/booking websites are now required this month to submit to the Hacienda details of your 2018 earnings, including nights occupied, guests’ names and price per booking for your rental properties. Obviously this can be cross checked against official list of homes registered.
Stop Press!!
ALOJA Murcia, a group of companies and individuals involved in holiday rentals and the Tourism Sector have published an appeal asking for volunteers to take part in a working Council for the detection of illegal holiday rental establishments that are NOT on the register of companies working in the Tourism Sector. The aim is to report their findings to the Tourist Board and the Hacienda (tax agency).
This stance shows that the organisations now complying with the rules feel that there is unfair competition in the sector with continuing illegal rentals and in 2019 they will be taking steps through the Working Council to address this using a team of volunteers.
The net is slowly closing on both tax avoidance from rental income AND unregistered holiday lets.
Call or email for an informal discussion, and let’s get you legal!!
Liz Edmiston
Murcia Solutions
Tel + 34 662 556 433
liz@murciasolutions.com for more information or visit
www.murciasolutions.com to view the full range services.