Spain's rental rules changed again on 8 October 2026

What else changed on 8 October

The changes to the Urban Leasing Act below (early exit, costs, guarantees, repairs and the end-of-lease record) depend on when the lease was signed. Leases signed before 26 May 2023 keep the rules in force when they were signed, except for the renewal rules in article 10 as introduced in 2023, the 2023 law's limit on updates and article 18.1 as now worded. For leases signed from 26 May 2023 to 7 October 2026, the decree does not say whether these changes reach them. The extension request and the eviction rules apply under their own terms, and the temporary-let rules turn on whether the contract was signed before 8 October. Take advice before relying on the points below for an existing lease.

• Tenant leaving early: after six months, with 30 days' notice, and you can no longer claim compensation for it. On a temporary let, after one month, with 10 days' notice.
• Costs: property taxes cannot be charged to the tenant unless the tenant is the taxpayer. This is new. Agency and contract costs have been the landlord's since 2023; the decree adds that they cannot be passed on directly or indirectly, under any name.
• Guarantees: on top of the deposit, the extra guarantee was already capped at two months' rent on leases of up to five years (seven if the landlord is a company or other legal person). New: a one-month cap on a temporary let, and you cannot require rent-default insurance.
• Repairs: for damage affecting habitability, safety or health, or repairs that are yours to make, the tenant can send a written request with a quote. You can accept it, propose an alternative or do the work yourself. If you do not answer, or refuse without justification, within 15 calendar days, the tenant can do the work and deduct the reasonable, documented cost from the rent.
• End of the lease: both sides sign a record of the state of the home. Without it, the home is presumed handed back in good condition, unless proved otherwise.
• Temporary lets: they need a justified, provable cause written into the contract, a term over 31 days and, as a rule, no more than twelve months, or they count as a main-home lease. More than two successive temporary contracts between the same parties for the same home also turn the first into a main-home lease, and successive temporary lets cannot raise the rent by more than the IRAV change. Contracts signed before 8 October keep the old rules until their agreed end and then expire, with no extension.
• Tourist lets: whole homes or part of one stay outside the Urban Leasing Act when a regional tourism regime covers them, but since 8 October 2026 for no more than 31 days.
• Extensions: a tenant whose lease was in force on 8 October 2026 and whose minimum term ends before 31 December 2028 can ask for up to two more years in yearly periods, if the rent has been paid in each of the previous eight months. Leases whose tacit extension or tacit renewal is coming to an end are also covered; the date limit belongs to the first case, so take advice if yours is one of these. You must accept unless you agree other terms or a new contract, or you gave valid notice that you need the home for yourself or close family. It does not apply if you and the tenant renew or sign a new lease at a rent at least 5% lower. If Royal Decree-law 28/2026 enters into force, its five-year renewal and this extension do not stack.
• Evictions: if a tenant who is economically vulnerable is evicted for non-payment, the administration has two months to offer housing or pay the arrears and costs. If it does neither, it takes over the debt, the eviction does not go ahead and the lease stays in force until it expires, for as long as the tenant's economic vulnerability lasts. In other evictions of vulnerable households with no housing alternative, until 31 December 2030 the court can suspend the case, with a review every 12 months and for three years at most, and the administration compensates an individual landlord, up to the rent not received, unpaid utilities and court costs. In those other cases the tenant's economic vulnerability does not prevail where the landlord is an individual who owns two or fewer homes. How evictions work.

Source: Royal Decree-law 29/2026, articles 2, 3, 4 and 5 and final provision five.

What did not change

• Minimum term of five years when the landlord is an individual, seven when the landlord is a company or other legal person, extended year by year at the tenant's option.
• After the minimum term, a tacit extension of up to three further years if neither side gives notice in time. Royal Decree-law 28/2026 would change this from 15 November 2026 if it is validated.
• The deposit for a main-home lease is one month's rent.

Let it, or sell it?

Either way, the decision comes down to what the property would fetch as a sale against what it would collect as a rent under the rules above. Most owners only ever see asking prices, which are what other sellers hope for rather than the average price per m² of homes sold in their town.

Our free guide starts from registered sale prices in the Spanish notarial register where the area has them. A short form, no account, and no agent contacts you unless you tick the box.

If you sell, the maximum coefficients for plusvalía, the council tax on the rise in land value, change on 1 December 2026 if the decree survives. Our plusvalía guide sets out both tables.

See what your property is actually worth The October 2026 decrees, explained

Common questions

This is general information for property owners, checked against the BOE, including the Ministry of Housing's quarterly lists of stressed zones, on 28 October 2026. Royal Decree-law 29/2026 still has to be validated or repealed, and we will update this page after the vote. It is not legal advice, and rental rules in Spain change often. Check your own contract and take professional advice before acting.