If you are planning to live in Spain for a while, and you are looking for an apartment to rent, it is good to look for information on the paperwork and other basic knowledge on renting a home, based on current regulations. What is the least you should know when renting your home in the Spain?
Before you agree on renting an apartment, make sure you know of all the expenses you, as a tenant, will have to pay for:
- A first, monthly payment and a deposit worth two months rent
- The owner may also request additional guarantees in the form of your bank deposit (aval bancario), or the presence of a permanent income(Nomina)
- If necessary, register for water, gas and electricity
- Real Estate and Property Manager fees. All real estate agents charge 10% per year + VAT of the client.
If you have found a rental property that you are seriously interested in, collect important information before continuing with the process. What condition is the property in? What are the details in the contract? Are there any specific clauses that need further explanation?
Before paying any amount of money, this is the minimum information you should have:
- A description of the property with up-to-date information on installations, services, utilities and surface area, etcetera
- The rental price and a breakdown of all other expenses for the tenant
- The duration of the rental agreement
- The deposit and, if requested by the landlord, other guarantees
- The way the rental price will be updated during the rental period
When renting a property, you are legally not obliged to be on a payroll, but as you can guess, many landlords do require it as a guarantee.
Sometimes landlords even reject a potential tenant, if he thinks the level of income is not sufficient to pay for monthly rent.
So the wise thing to do is to make a thorough analysis of your financial situation, to find out how much money you can spend on a monthly rent. If a tenant cannot show the landlord any payslips, be aware of the fact that it is possible to provide a bank guarantee or personal guarantee.
As for the information that is requested from a property owner, these are the documents he needs to present to rent out an apartment in Spain:
- The rental contract, containing essential information like its duration, monthly rent, personal details from the owner, form of payment, clauses, etcetera.
- Land register reference
- Habitation certificate
- Energy efficiency label
