The fear of the restrictions that may be included in the new Right to Housing law has shot up the number of owners who choose to put their apartments for seasonal rent, those of less than 12 months' duration, which are not regulated by the Urban Leasing Law. "For the first time, there is more supply than demand for seasonal rental homes", says Quico Marín, general manager of aTemporal. Marín points out that this is the first time this has happened in his 17 years of experience in this type of rental. "Many landlords suffer because the new housing law puts limits on rent or prevents rents from being raised with the CPI, or extends to landlords of more than five floors the obligation to offer social rent to illegal occupiers or tenants that they don't pay the rent. And they are diverting their homes to this sector", points out Marín. The first effect, moreover, has been to lower incomes.
Marín co-founded aTemporal in 2019 with Nacho Martínez-Fortún and currently the firm has a portfolio of 800 rental properties, 500 of them in Barcelona and the rest in Madrid, owned by "individuals or family offices, of which 90% have less than 5 floors". The customers, for their part, are 90% foreigners, who generally rent for 6 to 8 months. "We have digital nomads, employees of multinationals, postgraduate students of universities or business schools, diplomats, especially in Madrid, filming crews of films or theater companies, sportsmen, such as the America's Cup teams, and people who come to follow long-term medical treatment”. In this sense, the firm has a collaboration agreement with Sant Joan de Déu hospital.
Nacho Martínez-Fortún points out that in Barcelona they are in the same city, in practically all neighborhoods, and in Hospitalet de Llobregat. “The location is not as important as having good access to the metro. For a European, a 20-minute journey by metro to go to work is to be in the center", he adds.
With the growing interest of owners, explains Marín, new agencies are entering. But they are often homes that are not suitable for users of this type of rental.
The key is that these flats must be fully equipped, and have wifi and supplies ready. The investment that is required for this reason, as well as the periods in which the flat can be vacant between tenants and taxation, are key to the profitability that the owner can obtain.
"Many people consult us, but not all flats are suitable. And when we explain to them that they have to assume an investment of 12,000 to 14,000 euros to equip the home, they often give up," adds Marín. At aTemporal, he explains, the homes have 1.4 tenants per year on average, and an occupancy rate of around 95%.
Taxation is a key factor that penalizes seasonal rental for individual owners. "Long-term rental has a better tax treatment for individuals in the IRPF: the net yield (the difference between the income and the assumed expenses) is taxed, reduced by 60%. This reduction does not apply to seasonal rent. But companies don't have it either, so for them our formula is indeed competitive", points out Marín.
Martínez-Fortún explains that some individuals also opt for this formula, even if it is less profitable for them, when they want to rent for shorter periods than the 5 years set by the LAU "because they themselves go to work abroad for a while, but they want to come back. Or because they have grown children who anticipate that they will soon become independent”. For a legal person, points out Marín, seasonal rental can be a 25% more profitable option. The profitability for the owner, in peripheral neighborhoods, can be 5% or 6%.
aTemporal operates under the umbrella of the aFinance group: although it is an independent company, three of its partners are also part of the parent company. Last year, Marín points out, it had an income of 1.2 million euros, which it expects to increase this year by 27%, "as the market continues to grow: there are more and more multinationals and universities, and they sell more people who need short rentals", he says. The company has 15 employees "because we have the entire human resources, accounting and marketing structure of the group".
aFinance includes aProperties, real estate focused on luxury apartments and offices; aRetail, specialized in commercial premises; aCapital, in ships, hotels and other properties, and finally aYachts, specializing in boats. The company mediated transactions worth 850 million euros in 2021, and has a workforce of 650 people.
