CUTTING HOLIDAY HOME RUNNING COSTS
May 6, 2016
The type of day-to-day running costs of a holiday home abroad are going to be similar whether it is a villa or apartment you own or are going to buy.
Here are some things to consider which may help you save money:
- When buying a property think of the distance you will have to travel to an airport both in this country and your final destination. Do airlines with cheap flights operate out of these airports and are there flights all year round?
- Remember there will be the cost of leaving your own car in a long-stay car park if you are too far away to make taking a taxi a possibility. This is when regional airports come into their own. If you are near to an airport, friends or family may be willing to take you there for free!!
- Whether you need to hire a car once you are at your property will depend on your choice of location. Using public transport can be cheap and fun but it needs to be available! If your preferred location for buying is in a more isolated area then you will need to factor in the cost of hiring a car. In some countries this is cheaper than the UK, this being particularly true in Spain.
- Unless you have mountains of luggage, hire a smaller car than one you may drive in the UK unless you are planning on driving long distances. Popping to the beach or shops doesn’t need a Rolls Royce! Remember out of peak-season cars will be even cheaper!
- Once you have bought a property abroad, you need to take into consideration what charges will apply even if you don’t use your property all year round. Community fees may be applicable if you share communal pools, gardens, parking, lifts etc.
- If you have a private pool and/or garden you will need to factor in the cost of maintaining these as well as building maintenance. Heating the pool will add to your costs though many pools in Spain are unheated! Not such a good choice if you intend using the pool out-of-season.
- Buying a property near to amenities (e.g. bars, restaurants) makes sense if you are sociable types and intend to eat out and experience the local culture. Shanks’s Pony is free and you don’t even need to nominate a designated driver!
- On the subject of eating out, many restaurants offer “Menu del dia” (Menu of the day). These are great value and often give you the chance to try local dishes. Also remember that small family-run restaurants tucked away from the main tourist areas can be real gems and don’t come with a price premium.
- Looking in local supermarkets for British-type foodstuffs can add up to a costly shopping basket even if you can find them! Be brave and try out new foods etc. Visiting local food markets can be a rewarding experience.
- Renting out your property can provide rental return. This is where you need to think of long-term v short-term. With long-term lets, the tenant normally pays the water, electricity, air-conditioning etc. If letting out short-term you need to compare the costs of doing it yourself or through a holiday lettings company. You may be lucky to find someone living locally who will do “changeover day”. Maybe an ex-pat who wants an extra income.
- Modern properties v old. Building regulations in many countries have changed and specifications now are much higher. Your 10 year Buildings Guarantee will still be fully or partly in force. This can help with the day-to-day running costs. Solar panels in sunny climes can provide low energy costs. In Spain for example many properties have air-conditioning which switches off automatically if you open patio doors, thus saving you large amounts of money. These features may cost more up-front but save you money over a period of time.
- Use your property outside the main holiday seasons. Flights are cheaper, car hire is cheaper and then you can rent out your property in peak season to get maximum rental income.
- Buying on a golf course can give you the additional rental from the “Golfers’ season” for those players wanting to escape hostile winters in their own country! So, with careful management, you can finish up with two distinct “High Seasons”.
One point to remember is that family and friends, however dear they are to you, should not expect to stay for “free” in your property. Yes, charge them a smaller amount than your usual rental fee if you wish, but if they are using your facilities for nil costs ( e.g. pool, air-conditioning, heating), so they get the free holiday whilst these costs have to be accounted for in your own holiday use. Families often want to use your property in peak seasons so be aware that this means not taking rentals for several weeks perhaps when you need to be getting a rental return to help with running costs or funding of your property to be spread over periods of less demand.
NB Please remember any rental income will need to be declared
You May Also Enjoy
How to add £30K to your property value and find a buyer fast this new year
New insight from Yopa reveals how home sellers entering the market in 2026 can add more than £30,000 to their property value by carrying out some basic home improvements. Yopa looked at five easily implemented tasks that home sellers can undertake before entering the market in order to make a good first impression with buyers,…
Read More 
Speed, certainty, and strong results: why property auctions are set to thrive in 2026
Following a robust year for the property auction sector in 2025, leading members of NAVA Propertymark’s Advisory Panel Board have shared their standout moments from the year and an optimistic outlook for the auctioning market as it heads into 2026. Despite economic pressures, regulatory change, and fluctuating sentiment in the wider property market, auctions continued…
Read More 
2026 Predictions for the Mortgage Sector
Tom Davies, Group Financial Services Managing Director, Mortgage Scout, part of LRG “By the time we move into 2026, the mortgage market will have absorbed an extraordinary amount of economic pressure in the last 5 years. We have come through a pandemic, sharp interest rate rises, fiscal uncertainty and wider global shocks, yet house prices…
Read More 
UK’s most affordable cities
Where does your area rank? takepayments releases interactive map of the UK’s most affordable cities Middlesbrough takes the top spot as the most affordable city, scoring 6.51/10 Brighton is the least affordable city outside London, scoring 3.5/10 Brighton has the highest property prices outside London (£420,181 on average), while Aberdeen has the lowest (£134,368) …
Read More 
New-build demand falls in Q4, but pockets of the market remain sturdy
The latest market analysis from Property Inspect has found that demand for new-build homes remained subdued in Q4, with fewer than one in five new properties securing a buyer, as market conditions softened further on both a quarterly and annual basis. Property Inspect analysed current market listings to assess what proportion of new-build homes are…
Read More 
Money and Credit – November 2025
Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased to £4.5 billion in November, following a decrease of £1.0 billion to £4.2 billion in October. In November, net mortgage approvals for house purchase fell by 500 to 64,500. By contrast, approvals for remortgaging rose by 3,200 to 36,600 in November. Net borrowing of consumer…
Read More