Buy-to-let in Spain: a mortgage in your own name or through a company
Alveo Finance · Published 21 October 2026 · 4 min read · Lire en français · Leer en español
In short
For a buy-to-let in Spain, banks lend differently to individuals and to companies. In your own name, the loan-to-value follows your resident or non-resident status. Through a company, it usually goes up to 50% over 15 years.
To buy a property to let in Spain, you can set up the purchase in two ways: borrow in your own name, or have a company buy the property and take out the loan. The bank does not treat them the same way. In your own name, it lends up to 75% of the price if you are a non-resident, and up to 80-90% if you are tax resident in Spain. Through a company, it usually lends up to 50% of the price, over 15 years.
Buying in your own name
This is the simplest structure. The bank assesses your personal income, as it would for a holiday home, and takes a mortgage on the property.
- Loan-to-value: up to 75% of the price for a non-resident, up to 80-90% for a Spanish tax resident, calculated on the lower of the price and the valuation (tasación).
- Term: the usual term of a home loan, limited by your age at the final repayment.
- Income taken into account: your current income. Banks rarely count the rent expected from a property you have not yet bought.
Buying through a company
A company buys the property and takes out the loan. It can be Spanish, often a sociedad limitada (SL), the Spanish equivalent of a private limited company, or foreign, such as a limited company you already own in the UK. The bank then assesses the company.
- Loan-to-value: usually up to 50% of the price.
- Term: usually 15 years, shorter than a loan to an individual.
- Guarantees: banks often ask for a personal guarantee from the shareholders on top of the mortgage.
- Documents: articles of association, the company's tax number, balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the last financial years, ID and NIE of the shareholders and of the director, proof of income for the guarantors.
A recently formed company with no accounts yet is harder to finance, and the bank then shifts its analysis to the shareholders. When a shareholder guarantees a loan secured on a home, the Spanish law on real estate credit applies as well: the information sheet must reach the guarantor in time for the 10-day period required by Spanish Law 5/2019 before signing, and the guarantor attends an appointment at the notary, free of charge, no later than the day before signing.
The two structures side by side
| In your own name | Through a company | |
|---|---|---|
| Share of the price financed | Up to 75% (non-resident), up to 80-90% (resident) | Up to 50% |
| Term | Depends on your age | Usually 15 years |
| What the bank analyses | Your personal income | The company's accounts, and often the shareholders |
| Deposit needed | At least 30-40% of the price plus the costs (non-resident) | At least half the price plus the costs |
| Time to set up | That of a standard home loan | Longer if the company has to be created |
What to decide before you choose
Choosing between your own name and a company has tax consequences, in Spain and in the country where you live: tax on the rent, on a future sale, on passing the property on. Alveo Finance does not calculate this tax. Have a tax adviser put figures on both structures before you sign anything. We do calculate the total cost of the purchase and the financing available in each case.
Two questions often settle the decision:
- How much of your own money do you want to tie up? With a loan of up to 50% of the price, a company has to put in at least half the price, plus the costs.
- How many properties are you planning to buy? For a single flat, your own name is often enough. For several properties, a company can make sense, subject to tax advice.
The total cost of an investment bought with a mortgage
At the purchase, costs come on top of the price: transfer tax (ITP) on a resale property or VAT on a new build, notary, land registry, valuation (tasación) and our fees. We also receive a fee from the lending bank; its amount is shown in the FEIN. Then, every year, come the property tax (IBI), community fees, insurance, maintenance, letting management and the empty periods between two tenants. A yield calculated on the purchase price alone overstates what the property brings in.
The simulator works out in 3 minutes the financing available and the total cost of the purchase, in your own name or through a company, and sends you a detailed PDF.
Official sources
- Law 5/2019 of 15 March on real estate credit agreements (BOE): article 2.1 (applies whenever the borrower or the guarantor is an individual), article 14.1 (10-day period before signing), article 15.3 (appointment at the notary) and article 15.8 (no notary fee for it).
- NIE of partners and directors: Royal Decree 1155/2024, article 205; no purchase or mortgage is entered in the land registry without the tax number of every party: Mortgage Law, article 254.2.
Legal information. Alveo Finance Management, S.L. (tax ID B27611433), Calle Purísima 5, 33, 46001 Valencia, Spain. Mortgage credit intermediary registered with the Banco de España register of mortgage credit intermediaries under code E756 (registered on 6 July 2026), check it here. Supervisory authority: Banco de España. Non-tied intermediary; our advisory service is not independent within the meaning of Royal Decree 309/2019. Remuneration: a €500 processing fee, then 1.15% of the loan amount with a minimum of €3,490. We also receive a fee from the lending bank, shown in the FEIN. Complaints: finance@alveo.co, then the Banco de España Market Conduct Department. Professional liability insurance: Lloyd's Insurance Company, S.A. This article is for information: it is not a loan offer, which depends on the bank's creditworthiness assessment and binding offer.
