Remortgage or equity release at home for mortgages in Spain: what it is, the difference between them and how to use the calculator
Your bank in Amsterdam, Brussels, London or Stockholm will lend against the house you already own. What it will not do is finance the flat in Spain. That is the half nobody joins up — and it is the half we do.
Which UK banks offer Spanish mortgages, and who finances the purchase in Spain instead?
No UK bank offers a Spanish mortgage: your bank at home lends against the property you already own there, typically up to around 80 per cent of its lending value, and a Spanish lender finances the purchase. We arrange the Spanish financing on top. Both sides need to be arranged before you sign, because the two run to different clocks.
Remortgage Spain or at home: where do the two halves fail to meet?
Your bank at home lends against the property you already own there but will not finance the apartment in Spain, and the Spanish lender sees none of that domestic security, so the two halves are arranged separately.
- Perini arranges capital raising in Germany only: Capital raising outside Spain is arranged by Perini in Germany only (§34i GewO). Your own bank at home raises it; Perini then arranges the Spanish financing on top.
- Home equity usually improves the Spanish case: Home equity and a Spanish mortgage are not alternatives. The equity you bring lowers what the Spanish lender has to carry, which usually improves the case rather than removing it.
- Financing at purchase is the cheaper moment: A later mortgage on a fully paid Spanish property sits with only a couple of lenders, usually up to 50% of the valuation. Financing at the time of purchase is the cheaper moment.
How do I use equity from home — London, Amsterdam, Brussels or Stockholm — for a purchase in Spain? Your bank at home — in London as in Amsterdam, Brussels or Stockholm — does not offer a Spanish mortgage, so you separate the two halves and time them against each other.
Your bank in Amsterdam, Brussels, London or Stockholm will lend against the property you already own there — typically up to around 80 per cent of its lending value, with the funds unrestricted in use.
What it will not do is finance the apartment in Spain, because it cannot take security over it and does not want to. The Spanish lender, in turn, sees none of that domestic security.
So the equity is raised at home and the Spanish purchase is either paid outright or financed separately on its own merits.
The failure point is almost always timing rather than eligibility: the Spanish private contract and the charge on your home property run to different clocks, and the arras deposit is usually committed before either bank has finished. Both sides need to be arranged before you sign.
Neither bank is being difficult. Each is simply doing its own job — and neither job includes the other country.
Your lender at home values a property it can see, in a register it knows, under a law it applies every day. It will release capital against it without much drama. Ask it what happens next and the conversation stops: it has no view of Spain, no valuer there, and no appetite to acquire one for a single client.
The Spanish lender has the mirror-image problem. It cannot see your house in Utrecht or Uppsala, cannot value it, and cannot take security over it. What it can do is lend against the Spanish property you are buying — as a non-resident, typically 60 to 70 per cent of the lower of price and valuation. But it will only do that if somebody puts the case in front of it in the form it understands.
So the buyer stands between two banks, each of which has said a version of yes, and finds that nobody will put the two halves together. That gap is not a credit problem. It is a translation problem — and it is where purchases quietly die.
The line we do not cross. Perini arranges capital raising outside Spain in Germany only (§ 34i GewO). We do not broker mortgages in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom or Scandinavia, and nothing on this page should be read as an offer to do so. Your equity is raised by your own bank or broker at home. What we do is everything that happens after that — in Spain.
Why are equity from home and a Spanish mortgage not alternatives?
They work together: the equity you bring lowers what the Spanish lender has to carry, and financing at purchase is the cheaper moment, because borrowing against a paid-off Spanish property later is hard. This is the point most buyers get wrong, and it costs them money.
The instinct is to release capital at home, wire it to Spain and pay cash. It feels clean.
It is also the most expensive way to do it, for a reason that only becomes visible afterwards: once the Spanish property is paid for in full, borrowing against it later is hard. Of 15 to 20 lenders we approach, two will lend against an unencumbered property held by a non-resident — and then, as a rule, only up to 50 % of the valuation, with the use of the money documented (Perini Market Check, 08.10.2026).
Financing at the moment of purchase is not a fallback. It is the cheaper moment, and it does not come back.
The structure that works is the other way round. The equity you bring reduces what the Spanish lender has to carry — which usually makes the case easier, not unnecessary. You end up with a lower loan, a better position in the valuation, and a property that is financed rather than locked up.
Step 1 at home: how does your lender release the capital?
Against the property you already own, under the rules of your own country. Your bank or your broker does this — not us. Tell us what the release can realistically produce, and by when.
We arrange the Spanish mortgage on top (Step 2 · Spain): The equity goes in as your contribution; the Spanish lender carries the rest. We approach at least 2 of 15–20 institutions per case and place the file with the one whose grid the case actually fits.
The two clocks are synchronised (Step 3 · timing): A release at home takes weeks; a Spanish valuation and offer take weeks. Run them in sequence and the seller walks. The sequencing is the work — and it is why this fails when nobody owns both halves.
If your property is in Germany, why is this page not your route?
Then we do both halves ourselves. Under § 34i GewO we arrange the capital raising against your German property and the Spanish financing that follows, from the same desk. You are not coordinating two advisers who each see half the case. The lending limits, the conditions and a worked example are on that page — not on this one.
German property as security → the full structure
And if you own nothing anywhere yet: the two routes that carry every non-resident, whatever the passport, are the ones below. Both run from one source — nationality is not the question there. The structure is.
Equity calculator for your home: where do the sums break?
The sums break at the valuation, the timing and the documentation of income: the Spanish lender lends against the tasación, and a release at home that lands after the Spanish deadline is worth nothing.
The valuation, not the price. The Spanish lender lends against the tasación. If it comes in under the purchase price, the difference is yours — regardless of what the contract says.
The timing. A release at home that lands after the Spanish deadline is worth nothing. Both processes have to start together, not one after the other. The documentation of income. A Spanish lender assessing a non-resident wants income evidence in a form it can read.
Foreign employment contracts, foreign tax returns and foreign currency each add friction — this is where cases slow down, and it is solvable, but not on the last day.
It is not a promise. Whether a case can be structured depends on the property, the valuation and creditworthiness. Everything here is orientation from brokerage practice, not a committed condition and not a legal entitlement.
Frequently asked questions
Remortgage in Spain: can I borrow against my home to buy there?
Yes, but you borrow against your home at home, not in Spain. Your bank there typically lends up to around 80 per cent of the lending value, with the funds unrestricted in use, while a Spanish lender finances the purchase itself. Both sides need to be arranged before you sign, because the two run to different clocks.
What is the difference between remortgage and equity release?
A remortgage replaces or extends the existing loan on the property; equity release turns part of the property's value into cash, for example by loan or part-sale. Status 2026, source: general professional information; to be checked with the lender in each case.
Equity release in Spain calculator: how much can I raise against my home?
Against the home you already own, your bank typically lends up to around 80 per cent of its lending value. If you borrow later against a fully paid Spanish property, at least two of the 15 to 20 lenders we approach will lend, usually up to 50% of the valuation, and the use of the money must be documented. Financing at the time of purchase is the cheaper moment.
Can Perini raise capital against my property in the Netherlands or the UK?
No. Capital raising outside Spain is arranged by Perini in Germany only (§ 34i GewO). If your property is in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK or Scandinavia, your own bank or broker at home raises the capital. Perini then arranges the Spanish financing on top.
If I bring equity from home, can I still get a Spanish mortgage on top?
Yes. Equity from home and a Spanish mortgage are not alternatives. The equity you bring lowers the amount the Spanish lender has to carry, which usually improves the case rather than removing the need for it. Perini arranges the Spanish financing for buyers of any nationality.
Why not simply pay cash with the released equity?
You can. But once the Spanish property is paid for in full, a later mortgage on it is hard: at least two of 15 to 20 lenders approached will lend against an unencumbered property for a non-resident, and then as a rule only up to 50 % of the valuation (Perini Market Check, 08.10.2026). Financing at the time of purchase is the cheaper moment.
Tell us what your lender at home can release — and when
With that one figure and the property details, we can tell you within days whether the Spanish half holds. Before you commit to anything.
Related pages
Mortgage calculator
Monthly payment, loan and purchase costs by region straight away; total cost and equity needed by email.
Stage payments during construction
The developer wants money while it is being built. The Spanish bank pays at handover. One of the 30+ lenders we approach closes that gap.
Release capital from a paid-off Spanish property
Unencumbered property in Spain, as a rule up to 50 % of the valuation, with the use of the capital documented.
Detached house in Vinaròs – Financing a home before retirement
As a rule the Spanish bank does not co-finance modernisation, so the €36,200 for kitchen, bathroom, air conditioning and roof insulation came from equity.
Mortgaging an existing property to renovate
As a rule the bank does not co-finance the renovation, so it belongs in the overall plan, covered from equity or raised against a property at home.
Madeira property: Permanent move after retirement, €537,200 for a house in Caniço
It is paid from equity or by raising capital against German property, not by the bank. As a rule the Portuguese bank does not co-finance modernisation.
Equity release: how do you finance developer instalments in Spain?
As a rule Spanish banks do not finance the instalments during construction — of 15 to 20 lenders approached, one does (Perini Market Check).
Buy property in the Canary Islands: what tax is due and what will a bank lend?
Only on new builds does the Canary IGIC of 7 % plus AJD 1 % replace Spanish IVA. The bank does not finance the ITP; you cover it from equity.
Equity release in Spain: how much paid-off property does your next purchase need?
The remainder is covered by releasing capital on the paid-off property. Against that property lenders go to 50 per cent of the appraised value.
Equity release or remortgage
The full comparison: part-sale, lifetime annuity, borrowing against the property.
Private mortgage lender in Spain: when is it the right route?
Private mortgage lender in Spain: capital privado when no bank will write the case. Arranged from €500,000 — after testing the bank route, not instead of it.
Spanish property equity release: can the money go to another European country?
Its hard limit is not the amount, it is the place: the use has to be in Spain and has to be evidenced, and the funds may not leave the country.
Content by Siegfried Perini — local brand representative since 2019, active in real estate since 1992, entered in the German intermediary register (§ 11a GewO) as a person directly involved in brokerage and advice. Point of contact for German-speaking buyers in Spain and Portugal. Brokerage by Olga Nikushkina, mortgage credit intermediary under § 34i German Trade Regulation (GewO); in Portugal through a locally licensed intermediary.