Residential lease (Spain)

curl -X POST https://dealroom.todo.law/api/v1/agent/contracts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer drk_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "contractType": "RESIDENTIAL_TENANCY_ES",
    "language": "es",
    "party": {
      "legalName": "Your company"
    },
    "counterparty": {
      "legalName": "The other company"
    },
    "terms": {
      "property-address": "<property-address>",
      "monthly-rent": "10000"
    },
    "inline": "md"
  }'

What it is and when it is used

A Spanish residential lease (in Spanish, contrato de arrendamiento de vivienda) is the contract under which a landlord lets a dwelling to a tenant who will live in it as their main home (vivienda habitual). It is the contract used for the ordinary rental of a home in Spain, as opposed to a seasonal or holiday let or a lease of business premises.

The Dealroom skill prepares the lease under the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (LAU), Law 29/1994. A lease of a main home is a consumer contract: most of the LAU's rules on it are mandatory, and any term that leaves the tenant worse off than the law allows is void, while the rest of the lease still binds. The skill is built on that basis. It does not offer options that fall below the statutory floor, and it negotiates only the points the LAU leaves open.

The document has two parts. Seven negotiable clauses carry the choices the parties make. Twelve standard clauses, which are not negotiated, set out the statutory frame, each with its legal source.

Who signs it and in which role

Two parties sign:

• The landlord (arrendador or arrendadora), who owns the dwelling and lets it.
• The tenant (arrendatario or arrendataria), who will live in it as their main home.

Each party gives a name, address and identity document. The parties then fill in two facts of the deal: the full address of the dwelling and the monthly rent. Everything else (duration, deposit, works, pets, subletting and early withdrawal) is decided through the clauses, not through a longer form.

Key clauses

Duration

The options are one year, three years, five years or seven years. Whatever is chosen, the tenant keeps the statutory right to extend year by year up to five years (seven if the landlord is a company). A short term therefore does not shorten the tenant's protection. The seven-year option carries a warning: it is the legal minimum for a company landlord, but for an individual landlord it goes beyond what the law requires.

Rent update

The rent may stay fixed for the whole lease, rise each year with the consumer price index (IPC), rise with the competitiveness guarantee index (IGC) with the IPC as a ceiling, or rise by a fixed two per cent a year. The standard terms add that, without an express agreement, the rent is not updated at all, and that any agreed update is subject to the legal limit in force at the date of each review. The fixed percentage option carries a warning for that reason. The skill notes that the rules on rent updates have changed several times since 2023, so the position should be checked for the year of the contract.

Deposit (fianza)

The legal deposit is one month's rent, paid at signature and lodged with the regional authority. The options are that month alone, that month plus one month of additional guarantee, or that month plus two months, which is the legal maximum for a main home. The standard terms explain when the deposit may be updated and that it must be returned at the end of the lease, with legal interest if it is not returned within a month of the keys being handed back.

Works and improvements

Works may be prohibited without the landlord's written consent; minor works may be allowed while major works need consent; or the tenant may carry out improvements after giving thirty days' written notice, with the choice at the end of removing them or leaving them without compensation. Under every option, the standard terms keep the landlord responsible for the repairs needed to keep the home habitable, and the tenant responsible for small repairs caused by ordinary use.

Pets

The LAU does not regulate pets, so this is a free choice: no pets, small pets only, or pets allowed with the tenant answering for any damage. Community rules and local bylaws may still impose limits.

Subletting

The law allows only partial subletting, and only with the landlord's written consent. The options are a ban, partial subletting with consent asked for each case, or consent given in advance in the lease itself, so that the tenant only needs to give thirty days' written notice identifying the subtenant. Under every option, full subletting is excluded and the subtenant's rent cannot exceed the main rent.

Early withdrawal

After six months the tenant may leave on thirty days' notice. The law does not allow a longer lock-in, so the options differ only in the compensation due: none, half a month's rent for each year left to run, or one month for each year left, which is the legal maximum. Periods shorter than a year are counted pro rata by months.

The standard clauses also cover governing law, the statutory minimum term and extensions, the grounds on which the landlord may terminate (such as unpaid rent, unauthorised subletting or works, or the home ceasing to be the tenant's main residence), notices by a reliable means that proves content and date, data protection under the GDPR and the Spanish data protection act, the courts of the place where the property is located (with optional prior mediation), entire agreement and severability.

What the two sides usually negotiate

The landlord usually asks for a longer committed term, the maximum additional guarantee, restrictions on works and subletting, no pets, and the highest withdrawal compensation. The tenant usually asks for a short initial commitment with the extension right intact, the minimum deposit, a fixed rent, permission for minor works, and withdrawal without compensation.

The skill points out that the ground that is genuinely open is pets, works and subletting. Duration and deposit look open but have a legal floor: a landlord who "concedes" the five-year extension concedes nothing, because the law already grants it.

When the two sides disagree, Dealroom proposes the balanced positions in the skill:

• Duration: three or five years (both sit next to the centre).
• Rent update: with the consumer price index (IPC).
• Deposit: one month plus one month of additional guarantee.
• Works: minor works allowed, major works with consent.
• Pets: small pets only.
• Subletting: partial, with written consent asked for each case.
• Early withdrawal: half a month's rent for each year left to run.

Jurisdictions and languages Dealroom supports for it

Dealroom offers this lease for Spain only, and drafts it in Spanish only. The Spanish text is the binding version; this page explains the document in English, but the lease itself is produced in Spanish. Disputes go to the courts of the place where the dwelling is located, as Spanish procedural law requires.

For a home in another country, Dealroom offers separate residential tenancy skills built on that country's own law:

• an assured periodic tenancy for England and Wales; and
• a California residential lease.

The landlord and the tenant can use Dealroom together, each stating their preferences, or one side can prepare the lease alone.

Common mistakes

• Agreeing a term below the legal minimum and treating it as final. The tenant may still extend to five or seven years. A short term is a starting point, not an exit date.
• Asking for more than two months of additional guarantee. For a main home the law caps extra guarantees at two months on top of the one-month deposit.
• Not lodging the deposit. The legal deposit must be lodged with the regional authority.
• Writing a lock-in longer than six months. The tenant's right to leave after six months on thirty days' notice cannot be removed; only the compensation can be agreed.
• Assuming silence allows a rent update. Without an express clause, the rent is not updated, and any agreed update must stay within the legal limit for that year.
• Allowing subletting of the whole home. Only partial subletting is lawful, with written consent and a subrent no higher than the main rent.
• Forgetting community rules on pets. The lease may allow pets, but the building's rules and local bylaws still apply.