I’m thinking of moving to Spain and living on a non-lucrative visa for a little bit. One issue that’s always a concern is finding housing as an immigrant.
It seems like it might be harder to rent an apartment based on not having a job (and also having a pet). Or is that the case?
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Not at all difficult as long as you can show the landlord you can afford the rent. Bank statements, etc will suffice for this.
We’re doing a similar thing (renting via bank statements, but as business owners) and about 90% of property won’t allow it. It’s because of a type of non-payment insurance landlords have that requires the tenants have a 1 year seniority position with a Spanish company and can prove paystubs and contract.
It gets easier to rent the higher your budget is, though.
I’m hearing different responses from other people. I’m wondering if it’s a difference with non-lucrative vs entrepreneur visas? Or maybe there’s a regional difference?
It also depends on whether you’re renting through an immobilaria or through a private landlord. If you’re renting privately you’ll have a far easier time of it, most landlords are pretty flexible. Renting through agencies can be a pain in the ass.
We’ve not heard of anyone being refused a rental because of a NLV or other immigration status. But, there may be some additional effort involved…
Your immigration status has no direct impact on your rental rights. However, you are trying to show evidence to a landlord that you’ll fulfill the terms of your lease and pay your rent. As a NLV holder (by definition not employed or earning an active income), you may be asked to give evidence of passive income or savings. The landlord’s ability to get Landlord Insurance can also be impacted if you don’t have a regular provable income stream, which increases their risk/costs.
Remember, in Spain, your rental agreement is usually directly to the landlord - even if you use a real estate agent, they are more facilitator/introducer than the role they play as contract holders in some countries.
Depending on demand and competition for rental properties, your landlord may ask for a larger deposit to mitigate this risk. In an early property rental, we paid an additional 6-month rental deposit to secure a property because we didn’t have consistent income streams. After two years, the deposit paid for four months’ rent, and we were back to a standard two-month deposit.
More info here : https://movingtospain.com/renting-property-spain/
If you can pay 6 months or one year upfront it’s easier, usually for paying one year you get a discount.