Thinking of converting your property into a vacation home? In this article we clarify what are the conditions that you must meet to rent it legally. Holiday rentals in Tenerife are becoming more and more popular. The additional income opportunities can be very attractive for some investors, but before starting your rental project it is necessary that you know the laws and conditions that govern the real estate sector in your locality.
In the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands there are different specific rules applied to holiday homes. In each specific case, the general regulations must be accompanied by the local regulations of the municipality where the holiday home is located. Before establishing the rent, the city council must decide whether it is possible to use the residential dwelling for tourist use, in accordance with municipal planning and ordinances. Here are the laws in force:
- Law 7/1995, of April 6, on the Tourism Organization of the Canary Islands. (BOC No. 48, April 19, 1995)
- Decree 117/2006, of August 1, which regulates the habitability conditions of the dwellings and the procedure for obtaining the habitability certificate. (BOC nº 161, August 18, 2006)
- Decree 142/2010, of October 4, which approves the Regulation of Tourist Accommodation Activity. (BOC nº 204, October 15, 2010)
- Decree 113/2015, of May 22, which approves the Regulation of holiday homes in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. (BOC No. 101, May 28, 2015) (Hereinafter, the Regulations)
- Decree 182/2018, of December 26, approving the Regulation of Intervention and Protection of Urban Legality of the Canary Islands. (BOC-A-2019-005-91)
The specific clauses that you wish to apply can be established through your tourist accommodation contract. For example, on aspects related to the reservation system and its cancellation, withdrawal of the user, prohibitions to users, provision of complementary services, penalties, repairs, maintenance, entry and exit of clients, deposit or guarantee for loss or deterioration of facilities, etc.
What is a vacation home?
The Regulation considers that a holiday home is any home that, furnished and equipped in conditions of immediate use and meeting the requirements set forth in Decree 113/2015, can be marketed or promoted in tourist offer channels, to be temporarily transferred and in its all to third parties on a regular basis for holiday accommodation purposes and for a fee.
What requirements does a vacation home have?
From the legal definition of tourist housing, the following defining notes can be extracted:
- Be furnished and equipped in conditions of immediate use.
- Assign two or more times within a one-year period or once a year, but repeatedly.
- Be marketed in its entirety.
- Exploited for tourist accommodation purposes.
- Marketing and promoting itself in tourist offer channels.
- To be marketed and promoted for profit, that is, to be sold in exchange for a price.
- Comply with the characteristics set forth in Decree 113/2015 itself.
What conditions of use should a vacation home have?
Holiday homes must remain in an adequate state of conservation and be made available to the people who rent them in perfect conditions of cleanliness and hygiene, in such a way that their use is allowed immediately.
What functional requirements must the home meet in terms of design and dimensions?
The design and dimensions of the home must be large enough to include the necessary furniture for the guest’s comfort. The home must facilitate, together with its facilities and equipment, rest and changing activities, cleaning, storage and access to telecommunications services.
The minimum dimensions, equipment elements and calculation of the useful square meters of the housing program, as well as its occupation, according to the number of double or individual bedrooms it has, are in accordance with the requirements of Decree 117 / 2006.
What is the minimum equipment they must have?
The holiday home must have the following minimum equipment, in proportion to the number of occupants in it.
General: (a) Interior security lock on access doors (b) First aid kit.
Bedroom: (a) Lighting for reading next to each bed (b) Effective darkening system of each bedroom with which it has (c) Hangers of non-deformable material and homogeneous style suitable for the number of users (d) Double beds or individual with the following minimum dimensions: Individual: 0.90 mx 1.90 m, and double: 1.35 mx 1.90 m (e) Minimum equipment and sufficient bedding per user: mattress protector, sheets or similar , blanket, pillow, bedspread.
In the event that the hiring is longer than one week, another set of bed will be provided per user for each week or fraction.
Bathroom: mirror, hairdryer, toilet paper holder, mat, support (with enough capacity to place toiletries in case of not having a countertop), towel racks, hangers or hangers with sufficient capacity, a system that prevents the leakage of water into the bathroom. bath or shower, bath towels for each guest, hand towel for each guest.
When the stay is longer than one week, another set of towels will be provided per user for each week or fraction.
Kitchen: oven or microwave, coffee maker, crockery, cutlery and glassware in adequate number to the capacity of guests, kitchenware and enough linen for the handling and consumption of food, cleaning utensils, iron and ironing board.
What is the accommodation capacity that a holiday home should have?
It will not be allowed to accommodate a greater number of people in the house than those corresponding to the capacity of the house, by virtue of the number of bedrooms and occupancy, according to the data included in the responsible statement.
How should you find out about the prices of the accommodation service?
The prices of the accommodation service must be displayed in the home, containing the date on which they are publicly advertised and announced. No higher prices should be charged, nor should amounts be required for unsolicited items that are not indicated in the tourist offer channels, or that are not in the contractual document to be delivered to the person who rents.
- It is also mandatory to have a 24-hour telephone and emergency numbers. These must be placed in the home in a visible place. The following information should be included:
- Attention telephone number at least from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., in order to resolve any incident related to the property.
- The telephone numbers and addresses of the emergency and health services.
- The poster must be written at least in Spanish and English.