In Spain, as in many other countries, home ownership has historically been seen as preferable to renting a property, due to the security and investment that ownership provides. However, the economic events of the past decade have brought about a shift in the Spanish long-term rentals market, with increasing numbers of people opting to rent either as a lifestyle choice or due to an inability to get onto the housing ladder. 

Martin Dell, director at Kyero.com, the portal which lists Spanish property sales, holiday rentals and long-term rentals, explains: “The past few years have seen a significant increase in the number of people in Spain looking to rent property on a long-term basis. Kyero’s long-term rentals site has experienced strong demand, from Spanish nationals and from foreign residents, while our sales site has received interest from investors looking to build up buy-to-let portfolios while property prices remain low.”

The promise of improving yields has prompted many investors to turn to Spain as the next buy-to-let destination of choice. Figures from Idealista reveal that yields have increased from 4.7% a year ago, to 5.3% currently. Popular tourist areas, such as Las Palmas de Gran Canaria offered returns of up to 6%.

The news that Spanish rents rose for the first time in seven years in Q1 2015 is further piquing the interest of buy-to-let investors with their eye on solid returns. According to Fotocasa, the average price of rental accommodation rose by 2.8% during the first quarter of this year, to €6.96sqm per month.