# Spain renovation flip 2026: the real Costa Blanca numbers

> A full interior reform on the Costa Blanca costs EUR 650 to EUR 950 per m2 in 2026. Here is the flip arithmetic run twice, at asking price and 12% below, with acquisition costs, holding costs and non-resident tax all included.

Published: 2026-08-06
Updated: 2026-08-06
Author: Erick Kit
Canonical: https://wesnagroup.com/blog/spain-renovation-flip-2026-costa-blanca-numbers
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Cite as: Wesna Group, "Spain renovation flip 2026: the real Costa Blanca numbers", wesnagroup.com

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A full interior reform on the Costa Blanca costs EUR 650 to EUR 950 per m2 in 2026, or roughly EUR 55,000 to EUR 81,000 on an 85 m2 apartment. It is the largest line in any flip budget. Buy a tired flat at asking price and the flip returns under 1% net on capital. Buy the same flat 12% under and it returns 7.6%.

## What a full reform costs per m2 in 2026

Reform quotes here are priced per square metre of floor area, not per room. Here is what the four common scopes cost, based on quotes we see between Torrevieja and Benidorm.

| Scope | Typical works | EUR per m2 (incl. 10% IVA) | Total on an 85 m2 flat (EUR) | Site time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | Paint, flooring over existing, fittings, kitchen fronts, taps | 180–280 | 15,300–23,800 | 3–5 weeks |
| Kitchen and bathrooms | Two wet rooms stripped and rebuilt, appliances, local re-pipe | 260–400 | 22,100–34,000 | 6–9 weeks |
| Full interior reform | Re-pipe, rewire, kitchen, two bathrooms, floors, doors, windows, split A/C | 650–950 | 55,250–80,750 | 3–5 months |
| Full reform plus layout change | The above, moved partitions, a structural opening, ducted A/C | 900–1,300 | 76,500–110,500 | 4–7 months |

A detached villa costs more per square metre because the envelope is yours: roof waterproofing, a rendered façade and aerothermal push a 150 m2 inland villa to EUR 1,000 to EUR 1,600 per m2, so EUR 150,000 to EUR 240,000.

Two things move these numbers more than buyers expect. The first is IVA. The reduced 10% rate applies to a dwelling more than two years old, provided the contractor supplies materials worth no more than 40% of the invoice base. Past that threshold the whole job is billed at 21%, which on a EUR 64,000 IVA-inclusive reform adds roughly EUR 6,400. Ask the builder to split labour from materials before you sign.

The second is the spread between quotes, which on the same flat routinely runs 30% to 40%. The cheapest tender is cheap because something is missing: the licence fee, skip hire, or the electrical certificate you need to reconnect the supply.

## The flip arithmetic, run twice

Here is a deal shape we see most weeks. A 1980s two-bedroom apartment of 75 m2, second line in central Torrevieja, dated but sound, asking EUR 105,000. Refurbished two-beds in the same streets asked EUR 2,700 to EUR 2,900 per m2 in mid-2026 and achieved EUR 2,600 to EUR 2,700. We use EUR 2,640, so EUR 198,000, over a ten-month cycle.

Column one buys at asking. Column two buys 12% under, at EUR 92,400, which is what a tired unit with 200-plus days on the market will often take. Both assume cash.

| Line item | Bought at asking (EUR) | Bought 12% under (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | 105,000 | 92,400 |
| Acquisition costs (ITP 10% plus EUR 2,600 notary, registry, gestoría, lawyer) | 13,100 | 11,840 |
| Full interior reform, 75 m2 at EUR 850 | 63,750 | 63,750 |
| Holding costs, 10 months (IBI, community, utilities, insurance) | 2,300 | 2,300 |
| **Total capital in** | **184,150** | **170,290** |
| Sale price achieved, 75 m2 at EUR 2,640 | 198,000 | 198,000 |
| Agency fee at 5%, IVA included | –9,900 | –9,900 |
| Plusvalía municipal | –1,300 | –1,300 |
| Non-resident capital gains tax at 19% | –941 | –3,574 |
| **Net profit** | **1,709** | **12,936** |
| **Return on capital** | **0.9%** | **7.6%** |

Ten months of site management, licence paperwork and tied-up capital, and column one hands back EUR 1,709. Column two annualises at about 9.1%, and that margin exists entirely because of the entry price.

Acquisition costs run 11% to 13% in the Comunitat Valenciana, where transfer tax on a resale home is 10%, and 9% to 11% in the Región de Murcia, where it is 8%. On a EUR 100,000 purchase that is EUR 2,000 of pure difference between Los Alcázares and Torrevieja. Our [full breakdown of purchase costs](/blog/total-cost-of-buying-property-spain) has every line.

### Holding costs do not reduce your tax bill

Non-resident capital gains tax lets you add acquisition expenses, sale expenses and works classified as *mejora* (improvement) to your acquisition value. Community fees, IBI and site electricity are not deductible against the gain, only against rental income if you let the flat. Replacing a failed boiler like for like is maintenance; adding air conditioning where there was none is improvement.

The table above assumes the whole EUR 63,750 is accepted as mejora, which is the optimistic reading. If only three quarters survives, column two's tax bill rises to about EUR 6,600 and the return falls from 7.6% to 5.8%. Keep every factura with your NIE on it and have a gestor classify the works before the sale, not after Hacienda asks.

### The 3% the buyer keeps

When the seller is not tax-resident in Spain, the buyer withholds 3% of the sale price on Modelo 211. On EUR 198,000 that is EUR 5,940 held against a tax bill of EUR 3,574, so you are owed EUR 2,366. You reclaim it on Modelo 210 within four months of the sale, and refunds have been landing six to eighteen months later. Budget for that delay. The 19% gain rate applies to every non-resident seller, EU or not. See our guide to [Modelo 210 for non-resident owners](/blog/modelo-210-non-resident-tax-spanish-property-2026).

### Renting it instead of selling

The same refurbished two-bed lets long-term at around EUR 800 a month, so EUR 9,600 a year. Against the EUR 170,290 all-in cost of column two, that is a **gross yield of 5.6%**. Deduct community fees of EUR 720, IBI of EUR 290, insurance of EUR 220, management at 8% (EUR 768) and EUR 800 for maintenance and vacancy, EUR 2,798 in all, and EUR 6,802 is left: a **net yield of 4.0% before tax**.

Tax then splits the audience. Owners tax-resident in the EU or EEA pay 19% on the net figure, roughly EUR 1,292, so the after-tax yield is 3.2%. Owners tax-resident outside the EU and EEA, which since 2021 includes the United Kingdom, pay 24% of gross rent with no deductions. That is EUR 2,304, and the after-tax yield falls to 2.6%. Six tenths of a point turns on where the owner files. Our [Costa Blanca rental yield data](/blog/long-term-rental-yields-costa-blanca-2026) shows how that plays out across towns.

## Where the tired stock actually sits

**Torrevieja** is the deepest pool on this coast, and we hold 126 sale listings there. The candidates are 1970s to 1990s blocks in the centre, behind Playa del Cura and around Acequión: 55 m2 to 80 m2, lift not guaranteed, communities that meet once a year. Square metre prices there are the lowest of any coastal town with year-round demand. Browse the [Torrevieja sale listings](/catalog?city=torrevieja&deal=sale).

**Benidorm** has 45 listings with us and a different profile. The 1960s and 1970s towers in Rincón de Loix Alto and the streets behind Levante hold the town's cheapest square metres and its heaviest structural due diligence. Sixty-year-old high-rises come with patched roofs and sometimes a live derrama running into thousands per owner. Ask for three years of junta minutes, then filter the [Benidorm listings](/catalog?city=benidorm&deal=sale) by year of construction.

**The inland Vega Baja** is the easiest reform market and the least glamorous. Ciudad Quesada, Algorfa, Rojales, San Miguel de Salinas, Los Montesinos and Benijófar are full of 1990s and 2000s bungalows: sound, twenty-five years out of date, no structural doubt, usually no community to persuade. A kitchen-plus-bathrooms scope often does the job.

Now the honest part. Most people hunting fixer-uppers start with Jávea, Moraira, Benissa, Altea, Albir or Finestrat, because that is where the old stone villas photograph well. Wesna has no sale listings in any of those towns. If the north is where you want to be, we hold stock in [Denia](/catalog?city=denia&deal=sale), Calpe, Polop, La Nucia and Alfaz del Pi. [WES-2080, a 4-bed 169 m2 house in La Nucia at EUR 465,000](/property/wes-2080) prices at about EUR 2,751 per m2, which is what a reformed villa there has to beat, and why the north rarely leaves room for a flip margin. Our comparison of [square metre prices in 2026 against 2024](/blog/costa-blanca-square-meter-prices-2026-vs-2024) shows how far it has run, and [Idealista's monthly price report](https://www.idealista.com/sala-de-prensa/informes-precio-vivienda/) tracks the same series municipality by municipality.

## Licences, communities and what breaks the numbers

### Which licence you need

Anything that leaves the structure, the layout and the façade alone is *obra menor*, which in most Costa Blanca ayuntamientos now runs through a *declaración responsable*: you start work on submission rather than approval. Kitchens, bathrooms, rewiring, re-piping, flooring and internal doors all sit here.

Anything touching a load-bearing element, the façade, the built volume, the use or the number of dwellings is *obra mayor*. That needs an architect's project stamped by the Colegio de Arquitectos, a technical director on site, and a licence that takes two to six months, plus architect and aparejador fees of roughly 6% to 10% of the works budget.

Both routes carry the ICIO construction tax, up to 4% of the declared works budget, plus a licence fee: on a EUR 64,000 reform, up to EUR 2,560 you have not budgeted. Several coastal ayuntamientos also restrict noisy works in high season, so a reform started in May can sit idle through July and August while holding costs run. Every extra month is dead capital and a later listing date, so if your scope needs an architect's project, add three months and sign nothing with a hard completion date.

You do not have to be in the country for any of it. A power of attorney signed at a Spanish notary or consulate lets a representative file the licence, sign the utility contracts and take deliveries. Put someone independent of the builder on the site inspections, ideally an aparejador on a fixed monthly fee.

### What the community can veto

Under the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, common elements are not yours to alter: the façade, load-bearing walls, the general soil stack, the roof, and in most communities the window frames and any external air conditioning unit. Enclosing a terrace is the classic flashpoint, high-value on a small flat and the change most likely to be refused by the junta or flagged later as an unregistered extension.

Two checks before you offer. Pull the nota simple and read the charges and registered surface against what you are shown; our explainer on [nota simple versus escritura](/blog/escritura-vs-nota-simple-spain-2026) covers what each proves. Then ask for the community minutes and the certificate that the seller is up to date, because unpaid debt follows the property.

### The four things a survey must rule out

**Aluminosis.** Aluminous cement went into Spanish structural concrete roughly between 1950 and 1977. Affected beams lose strength as the cement converts: look for rust staining, cracking along beam soffits and sagging ceilings, first visible in garages. Lab analysis of a beam core costs a few hundred euros, and a positive result is building-wide. Walk away.

**Galvanised plumbing.** Pre-1980 blocks were piped in galvanised steel, which corrodes internally and shows as brown water and weak pressure. Replacing your own branch pipework costs roughly EUR 3,500 to EUR 6,000 in an 85 m2 flat. The riser belongs to the community, and if it has not been done you are one derrama away from an unbudgeted bill.

**Asbestos.** Fibre cement was banned in Spain from June 2002, so anything built or re-roofed before then can contain it: roof sheets, old water tanks, boiler flues. Removal must be done by a company on the RERA register, to a plan approved by the labour authority, at roughly EUR 40 to EUR 80 per m2 of sheeting. Municipalities must now census asbestos under the 2022 waste law.

**No thermal envelope.** Buildings predating the 2006 building code have single-skin brick walls and single glazing, and certify at E, F or G. Reaching a C needs thermal-break glazing, internal insulation and aerothermal hot water, roughly EUR 90 to EUR 160 per m2 of treated envelope. The resale premium for a C over an F here is only 2% to 4%; lower summer bills and rental appeal are the stronger arguments.

For buildings over fifty years old in the Comunitat Valenciana, ask whether the IEEV.CV building evaluation report has been done. If the community has been avoiding it, there is usually a reason.

### What would break these numbers

**A softer exit.** Column two earns most of its margin at entry, but the EUR 2,640 per m2 exit still has to hold. Sell 3% below it and the return drops from 7.6% to about 4.9%. Sell 10% below and column two is a small loss. The buyer here is another foreigner paying cash, and that pool thins on exchange rates and sentiment before any price index moves.

**A 20% overrun.** On EUR 63,750 of works that is EUR 12,750, which takes column two's profit to roughly EUR 2,600 and the return to 1.4%. Overruns on 1970s stock come from what you find behind the tiles, so hold a contingency of at least 15% and treat it as spent.

**Recharacterisation as a business.** Do one flip and you are an individual with a capital gain. Do three in two years and Hacienda can treat it as an economic activity, with a different tax base, different filing obligations and possibly IVA. Speak to a gestor before the second purchase.

## Questions buyers ask before they commit

### Can I get a mortgage on a property that needs a full reform?

Usually not on the tired unit itself. Spanish valuers mark down properties without functioning kitchens or bathrooms, and lenders decline buildings with structural notes. The common route is a cash purchase, then a mortgage or equity release once the property is finished and certified.

### How long does a full apartment reform really take?

Three to five months of site time for an 85 m2 flat, plus the run-up: six to eight weeks between offer and completion, two to four weeks for quotes and licence submission, the site programme, then a month to certificate, photograph and list. Ten months from signing to signing is the normal cycle.

### Would I be better off buying something already renovated?

Often, yes. If you want a home rather than a margin, a finished property removes the licence risk, the overrun risk and the ten months. The reform play only pays when you buy meaningfully below the finished comparable, and stock that cheap is not on every street.

## Next steps

Send us the nota simple and ten photographs of any unit you are considering and we will cost the reform before you offer. Start with our [renovation service](/renovation), or call +34 744 64 42 28.