Master lease in Málaga: lease your building, hostal or boutique hotel for a fixed rent
A master lease is a long-term lease of the whole asset to an operator. We sign that lease, pay you a fixed rent every month and run the property with our own team. No commission, no empty months, nothing to manage, from wherever you live. You keep the property and the licence; we take on the occupancy.
What a master lease is and how it differs from management
Master lease is the industry term for leasing a whole asset (a building, a hostal, a pensión, a hotel) to an operator who runs it at its own risk and pays the owner a fixed rent. In Spain it is structured as a commercial lease with the right to sublet or, where a hotel business is already running, as a lease of the business (arrendamiento de industria). It is the model serviced-apartment operators use to grow across Europe.
The difference from commission-based management is who carries the risk. Under management you remain the economic operator: you receive what the asset earns minus a commission, and a weak month is yours. Under a master lease the operator is both tenant and operator: you receive the agreed rent every month and a weak month is theirs. In exchange, the operator keeps the upside above the rent.
For a single holiday let the same idea is called guaranteed rent. This page is the version for whole assets. For the contract detail (term, guarantees, cost split, licence and tax), read our guide to what a master lease is and how it works.
Sell, manage or lease for a fixed rent: the three exits for an asset
Owners of a building, a hostal or a pensión in Málaga tend to reach the same crossroads: sell, find someone to manage it, or lease the whole thing to an operator. All three are legitimate. Here is what each one means, without the gloss.
Sell
Liquidity today in exchange for the next years of income. With new tourist accommodation suspended on Málaga's residential land, a licensed asset gets scarcer every month, which works in your favour if you wait. And if you sell anyway, a building with an operator, a signed contract and auditable numbers sells better than a closed one.
Commission-based management
You keep the full revenue upside and pay a published commission of 15% to 25% depending on the service. The choice of owners who want to maximise and accept the seasonality of tourism. See property management in Málaga.
Fixed rent (master lease)
A closed figure every month, a long-term contract and zero management. We take on occupancy, operations and compliance. The choice of owners who want peace of mind, live abroad, are close to retirement or have a closed asset they want earning again without investing their time.
Which assets fit
- →Whole buildings of tourist apartments with an AT registration (A/MA/xxxxx) or an application in progress, operating or idle.
- →Hostales and pensiones with a hotel-establishment licence, open or closed, with or without refurbishment pending. These are the assets where a digital operator changes the result most.
- →Small boutique hotels whose owner no longer wants to run them and prefers an income to a buyer.
- →Buildings or premises on tertiary or hotel-zoned land with a project or an accommodation licence, where the operator should be in the room before the product is defined.
- →Portfolios of holiday lets owned by one person or company, each with its VUT, where a single rent for the whole portfolio is preferred.
Areas: Málaga city, Benalmádena, Torremolinos, Fuengirola, Marbella and Nerja. The rest of the province case by case. A single apartment has its own page: guaranteed rent for a holiday let.
How a master lease with AltaHomes works
Tell us about the asset
Address, licence type (AT, hostal, pensión, hotel), number of units or rooms, condition and current situation: operating, closed or for sale.
Visit and analysis
Planning status, licence, building condition, local market and a unit-by-unit revenue projection. If it does not fit, we say so at that first meeting.
Written proposal
Fixed monthly rent, term, cost split and set-up investment. Next to it, the estimated figure under commission-based management, so you compare numbers rather than adjectives.
Signature and launch
Change of operator at the Tourism Register, set-up, channel and direct-booking launch, and the first rent on the agreed date. From then on, you get paid every month.
What we take on and what you keep
AltaHomes takes on
- ✓The whole operation: guests, cleaning, laundry, routine maintenance, 24/7 incidents.
- ✓The occupancy risk: the rent is the same in low and high season.
- ✓Distribution on every channel and on our own direct-booking site, with dynamic pricing.
- ✓The establishment's compliance: guest registration, house rules, invoicing, notifications to the Tourism Register.
- ✓Utilities and consumables, as agreed in the contract.
You keep
- ✓Ownership of the property and of the licence or registration.
- ✓A fixed monthly rent, agreed in writing, with the updates the contract sets.
- ✓The owner's own obligations, such as IBI, building insurance and structure, unless agreed otherwise.
- ✓Regular information on the state of the asset, even though the P&L is ours.
- ✓The option to sell with the lease in force, if that is your medium-term plan.
Hostales and pensiones: how the change of operator works
Andalusian hotel regulations require a single operator for the whole establishment and that operator does not have to be the owner. In practice the change is formalised through the lease and a notification to the Andalusian Tourism Register: the licence stays attached to the establishment and you remain the owner of the building.
What really changes is the operation. A hostal with a staffed front desk, payment at the counter and fixed prices now competes with accommodation offering self check-in, dynamic pricing and presence on every channel. That is our specialty: smart locks, 24/7 WhatsApp support and our own direct-booking site, which is what turns a hostal that was getting by into an asset that performs.
If the building could be converted into tourist apartments, we assess it within today's limits: since 25 July 2026 Málaga admits no new tourist accommodation on residential land, so a valid hotel licence is worth more as what it is than as a project. The detail is in holiday rental regulations in Málaga.
Why now
Málaga has granted no new tourist-home licences since 23 August 2025 and admits no new tourist accommodation on residential land since 25 July 2026, in both cases for up to three years. A registered building, a hostal or a pensión with a licence is an asset that can no longer be manufactured, and a closed hostal loses value every month it sits idle. For an owner living abroad, close to retirement or tired of standing behind the desk, a fixed rent is the way to capture that value without selling.
Why sign with AltaHomes
You deal with the founders
A boutique operator: the proposal is signed by the people who will run your asset, and you have their number.
A proven operation
Airbnb Superhost, 850+ reviews with a 4.9/5 average across 3 platforms and 7,000+ guests hosted in Málaga and the Costa del Sol.
Our own direct channel
Direct bookings on our site on top of Airbnb, Booking and Vrbo: less platform dependence and a better margin to sustain your rent.
Regulation, in English
We keep a regulation summary verified against official sources, and we operate inside the rules, always.
Frequently asked questions
What is a master lease of a building or hostal?
How long is the contract and how is the rent set?
I own a licensed hostal or pensión. Can you operate it?
Who pays for refurbishment or set-up?
Can I sell the building while the lease is in force?
Fixed rent or commission-based management for a building?
Which areas do you cover?
Tell us about your building, hostal or pensión
Where it is, what licence it holds and what situation it is in. We arrange a visit and come back with a written proposal: fixed rent, term and cost split, next to the commission-based alternative. Confidential by default, handled in English.
- ✓A direct answer from the founding team.
- ✓In the form, pick "More than 5 / whole building" and describe the licence in the message.
- ✓If the asset does not fit, we tell you at the first meeting.