Property rentals on the Costa del Sol are an attractive way to invest your money, but with so many on the market, does the supply outweigh the demand?

For any of you who have children under the age where they can travel alone, you will know the drill. Choose a holiday spot, book the flights and then spend a few hours umming and aahing about where to stay (unless you plunge straight in and book a package and hope for the best).

I for one, after a trip to Disneyland in Paris a few years back, swore blind that I would never stay in a hotel with kids again. The usual bog standard hotel room with sleeping arrangements for two adults and two kids was, needless to say, a bit squashed. An early night for everyone, no TV above the whispering noise, and a mini bar that cost more than the tickets for Disney.

My only choice was to book another room for the next family excursion. Fair enough, but the cost would double, and getting adjoining rooms will prove problematic, so what can you do?

Renting a privately owned apartment is the way to go. The following long weekend away was up to Barcelona to wander the streets, the shops and restaurants and take in the sites and sounds of what is undoubtedly a half decent city (even though they all get excited about the cathedral which isn't even finished).

We rented a two bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment right on The Rambles, just for a few nights and it was perfect. Kids safely locked away, fully fitted kitchen, fridge full of cold beer and food, and after negotiating with a guy on the street corner, a half decent copy of a movie I always wanted to see that I watched on the DVD player...life was easy.

The same apartment cost me the same as a three-star hotel but I had all the flexibility I needed. Friendly person letting me in, great spot, plenty of room and if we wanted to spend an hour back 'home' for a spot of lunch we could do just that.

It's no wonder that families or friends traveling together want alternatives to poky hotel rooms, but with the Costa del Sol having an abundance of private apartments on the market for short-term rent, are there simply too many?

A little under 12 months ago, a law was passed that any property in Andalucia that was intended for short-term rental, had to follow a certain number of guidelines. Failure to do so would result in the offending property owner being made to attend an entire week of dancing on the roof of the Hotel Sisu followed by being hung, drawn and quartered in Antonio Banderas Plaza in Puerto Banus. A terrifying thought!

What brought this change? Why the sudden panicky jumping up and down and running around shouting by the Andalucian Tourist Board? Well, the answer is simple.

The hotels have been asking for years to make the private rental industry more accountable, and make the private owner have to jump through as many hoops as they do...especially when the private rental sector is growing faster than the hotel sector!

Now is not the time to go through the policies and procedures that private renters have to follow, but if you would like to know what they are then you can go here. They are no big deal especially as there are plenty of property management companies down here that can it all for you.

So just how much competition is there for private rental accommodation?

Well until this law was passed, there was no real or accurate way to calculate how many people had their properties out on the rental market. There was no legal requirement for them to register them with the authority, so no one bothered.

Having said that, if we use common sense and use what we do know about the market, then the number of rental properties available for short-term renting run into the thousands.

Is this bad? Are there too many?

The answer is no! We could do with more of them.

In 2014, the Costa del Sol enjoyed the landmark figure of more than ten million tourists to the coastline, and according to the Costa del Sol Tourist Board, this figure has continued to grow year on year and looks to continue for the foreseeable future.

58.1% of domestic tourists overnight at Costa del Sol hotel accommodations while a 28.68% state to have a home owned or rented here. - Costa del Sol Tourism Board

Most surprisingly, from this 10,000,000 plus visitors, surprisingly less than 60% chose to say in hotels!

Where did the other four million stay? Well, I´m sure many hundreds of thousands already own holiday properties here and stayed in their own properties.

The odd few chose the more rustic approach of camping, but without doubt, and with the likes or AirBnB and Booking at the forefront of everyone's smartphones, the number of people renting properties exceeded the number staying in hotels.

Good news for people who have properties for rent!

Obviously, there are rules and suggestions to make sure that your property is rentable and returns are maximized, so if you have a property for the rental market, then please read this article here to see if you are in the best position.

For more information about renting your property, please feel free to contact us here at TerraSur Homes for a free obligation telephone conversation to see if your property qualifies for our rental program.