How Much Does It Cost to Keep a House Empty in Spain?

An inherited property no one has divided up yet, a second home barely visited, a flat kept "for later" before renting it out: very different situations that end up in the same place — a property earning nothing while still costing money every month.

The direct costs, month by month

A vacant property isn't free just because nobody's using it. The usual direct costs are:

• IBI — owed regardless of occupancy; it doesn't depend on whether the property earns income.
• Community fees, if applicable.
• Home insurance — with an important nuance: many insurers require notification if the property will be unoccupied beyond a certain period (often around 90 days), and may adjust coverage or price accordingly.
• Fixed utility charges — the portion of the electricity and water bill you pay even at zero consumption (contracted power charge, service fee). Gas is usually disconnected if the property is genuinely empty.

Added up, these direct costs typically run €1,000-2,000 a year for a property with average value — and that's only half the picture.

The other half: what you're giving up

The line item almost nobody counts when estimating "what it costs to keep this empty" is the rent they're not collecting. If that same property could rent for, say, €800/month, leaving it empty doesn't just cost the direct expenses — it costs those expenses plus €9,600 a year in foregone income. That figure is usually, by far, the biggest part of the real cost, and it's the one that stays invisible if you only look at the bills.

The risks of a property with no one in it

Beyond the money, a vacant property carries risks an occupied one doesn't:

• Faster deterioration. Without regular ventilation or anyone around to catch a problem early, damp, undetected leaks, and small maintenance issues get worse before anyone notices.
• Less natural oversight. A property with no regular activity draws less attention from neighbors — in practice, that reduces the deterrent against squatting or damage. It's not a risk that can be reduced to a precise figure, but it's real and worth factoring into the decision.
• Regaining control can take time. If someone occupies a property without consent, recovering it is a legal process that can take a while, especially if you don't act very quickly after discovering it. This isn't legal advice — if this concerns you, talk to a lawyer about preventive measures (an alarm, periodic visits, a trusted neighbor) and the procedure that applies to your specific case.

The empty-home IBI surcharge

Ley 12/2023, of 24 May, on the right to housing, amended Spain's state-level rules to let municipalities apply a surcharge on IBI for habitually unoccupied dwellings. It's worth understanding exactly what this means in practice: it's neither automatic nor uniform across municipalities. Each one decides whether to adopt it, under what conditions, and at what percentage, through its own local tax ordinance. If your property has been sitting empty for a while, it's worth checking your municipality's ordinance directly rather than assuming the surcharge does — or doesn't — apply without confirming it.

Does renting it out pay off?

In most cases, yes — even accounting for renting's own costs and risks (possible non-payment, wear from use, management time). The real question isn't "does renting cost money and effort?" but "is that cost and risk smaller than what I'm already losing by leaving it empty?" For most owners, the answer is yes — and tools exist specifically to reduce the risk that holds people back from taking that step: rental default insurance or a bank guarantee cover the risk of a tenant stopping payment, without needing to leave the property empty "just in case."

Quick answers

Is IBI higher if the property is empty? IBI itself doesn't change for being empty — it's owed either way. What can change is an additional surcharge, if your municipality has adopted one for habitually unoccupied dwellings (see above).

Does my standard home insurance cover a vacant property? It depends on the policy and how long it's been empty. Check the terms or ask your insurer before leaving it unoccupied for a long stretch — notifying them is usually a policy requirement, not an optional step.

What's the biggest financial risk of leaving it empty instead of renting? Almost always the foregone rent — not the direct costs. Direct costs are relatively small compared to what a full year of uncollected rent usually represents.

Calculate your own case

Use our vacant house cost calculator to add up your property's direct costs, and — if you know what rent it could fetch — see what leaving it empty actually costs compared to renting it out.

This article offers general, educational information, not tax or legal advice. IBI uses the legal band from TRLRHL art. 72, but the exact rate and any empty-home surcharge are set by your municipality — confirm them directly before making decisions based on a specific figure.