Refurbishing an apartment to let is about durability and low maintenance rather than showpiece design. We focus on reliable electrics carried out and certified by authorised partner installers, sound plumbing and waste, hard-wearing floors and wall finishes, a practical kitchen and a bathroom that is easy to clean. Work can be planned around a gap between tenancies. Rules for holiday lets are set by the Junta and town halls, so check them before planning.
What makes a rental refurbishment different from renovating your own home?
When you renovate for yourself, taste leads. When you renovate to let, the questions change: will this floor survive suitcases and chair legs? Will this grout stay clean after several tenants? Can a tap be replaced without retiling? The aim is a flat that photographs well, lets easily and does not generate maintenance calls.
That does not mean cheap. It means choosing materials and details for how the flat will actually be used. The money usually goes into the things tenants never think about — wiring, pipes, waste, ventilation — and into surfaces that take abuse.
Which services should be renewed before letting?
Anything that would cause an emergency call. In practice:
- Electrics: enough circuits for a kitchen with modern appliances, residual-current protection, sockets where tenants will use them. Carried out and certified by authorised partner installers.
- Supply pipes: renewed if old, with accessible isolation valves for each zone.
- Waste: proper falls and accessible traps, especially in the kitchen and shower.
- Ventilation: extraction in the bathroom and kitchen to limit condensation and mould, a frequent source of complaints on the coast.
A flat with these sorted is much easier to manage from a distance. Our services guide explains the warning signs in older installations.
Which finishes hold up best in a rental?
We avoid naming products, because the right one depends on the flat. The principles are steady, though:
- Floors: hard-wearing porcelain or ceramic tiles are a common choice on the coast; whatever the material, it should be repairable or replaceable in sections.
- Walls: smooth, washable paint rather than textured finishes; a consistent colour that can be touched up.
- Bathroom: a shower rather than a bath for most lets, wall-hung or easy-to-clean sanitaryware, a sensible amount of tiling.
- Kitchen: simple, robust units and a worktop that tolerates heat and knives.
- Doors and handles: solid enough to take daily use without dropping.
Can the work be done between tenancies?
Often, yes, if the scope fits the gap. Tell us the date the flat must be ready when you ask for a quote. We check whether the work fits that window, and if it does not, we propose what can be done now and what should wait for a longer gap. A partial refurbishment — bathroom, kitchen, paint — fits short gaps more easily than a full renovation with new services.
If the flat is a long-term let with a tenant in place, any work inside it needs the tenant’s cooperation and should be agreed with them in advance.
What about holiday-let rules?
Short-term holiday lets in Andalusia are regulated by the regional government, town halls may add their own conditions and communities of owners may have rules of their own. Check the current requirements for your property with the Junta de Andalucía, your town hall and your community of owners before planning a refurbishment for that purpose (to be verified for your specific property). We do not process holiday-let registrations or licences, and we cannot advise on whether a particular flat qualifies.
What we can do is make sure the physical side of the flat is in good order: safe electrics with their certificate, working services and finishes that cope with frequent changeovers.
Does refurbishing to let pay off?
That depends on the flat, the location, the type of letting and your own numbers, and we are not in a position to forecast rents. Our article does renovating to rent pay off? sets out the questions worth asking before you commit. For the cost side, our sister site presupuestoreforma.eu explains what drives renovation budgets without publishing a fixed price per square metre.
How do you work with owners who live elsewhere?
Many owners of rental flats on the coast live in another city or country. The first step works at a distance: photos and the approximate floor area by email or WhatsApp, and we reply with a first assessment. For the visit and the works, someone needs to give us access — you, an agent or a key holder. The quote is itemised so you can see exactly what is included.
We are a renovation contractor, not a letting agent or property manager, so the management of tenants and bookings stays with whoever handles it today.
Which small details save the most trouble later?
Rental flats are judged on details that owners rarely notice in their own homes. A few we pay attention to:
- Isolation valves under every sink and at the toilet, so a dripping tap does not mean shutting off the whole flat.
- Accessible traps and access panels where pipes run behind boxing-in, so a blockage is a visit rather than a demolition.
- Labelled circuits on the fuse board, so whoever answers a call at night knows what has tripped.
- Spare tiles and paint left in the flat and recorded, so damage can be repaired to match.
- Silicone and grout chosen and finished for easy cleaning, since stained joints are the first thing a new tenant photographs.
None of these is expensive at the time of the works, and all of them are awkward to add afterwards. Together they are what keeps a rental flat quiet between inspections, and they make the handover to a new tenant much quicker for whoever manages it.
Bauman Raymond Attila · Reforma Pisos Málaga · Avenida Antonio Belón 3, Marbella. Last reviewed: 05/11/2026.
