Renting Property in Spain

Rental terms Requirements

In Spain it is more common to buy a home than to rent one, and for this reason there are relatively few properties available for rent in Spain compared to other European countries. The limited housing market can make it difficult to find a rental property that meets your expectations. Finding a property is yet more problematic for young people, the over sixty-fives and immigrants, many of whom tend to have only a limited budget for accommodation. In addition, the demand for properties in Spain has recently increased: house prices and rental costs have doubled, particularly in popular urban areas. It is difficult to find official government information on the property market, and there are few reliable details on the number of properties available and the current demand.

Spain currently welcomes thousands of immigrants each year. This creates a great demand for rental properties and in turn increases rental prices. It is becoming more and more common to stay in 'bedroom cities': small towns located near large cities where more properties are available and rent is more affordable.

Over the last decade, the Spanish property market has undergone several changes. It is becoming more and more common for people to purchase property, rather than to rent. In recent years there has been a boom in the real estate sector; as the demand for homes increases, more and more homes are constructed as a result. This has also led to a significant increase in house prices.

The housing boom has created many jobs and contributed to considerable economic growth in Spain. However, it has also resulted in heavy reliance on the construction market, and increased debt as more and more families take out mortgages. These facts threaten the likelihood that the housing surge will contribute to Spain's long-term economic stability. As a result, the government has begun to implement certain measures to make this situation sustainable, and avoid a repetition of the mortgage crisis in the United States and United Kingdom.

In some ways, a housing crisis is already expected; increasing house prices have resulted in a rise in the number of people falling into arrears on their mortgage and rental payments. Banks will no longer grant loans or mortgages to people who are at risk of failing to make repayments; as a result demand for housing has fallen, and house prices have fallen accordingly for the first time in years.

In Spain, rental prices vary according to the location of the property. There is a huge demand for property in Madrid and Barcelona and thus prices here are high. These are big cities offering many job opportunities, and lots of people choose to live here to find work, although rental costs will constitute a large part of their expenses. Many other people choose to move to villages or small towns near to big cities which offer more affordable properties. These are known as 'ciudades dormitorio': literally, 'bedroom cities'.

To tackle the problem of price increases, some provinces have enacted laws that force the owner to rent out their property if it has not been occupied for more than two years. The government can request that the property be put on the market, or demand that the owner rent it out if there is a risk that the property will fall into ruin.