Do I have to register the rental deposit in Spain?

That differs per region. In the Comunitat Valenciana the deposit must be lodged with the Generalitat Valenciana within one month, on pain of a fine of up to 3,000 euros. In Catalonia it goes through INCASÒL within two months, for seasonal contracts pro rata to the term. In the Balearics through IBAVI. In Andalucía the duty to lodge with the AVRA has lapsed for contracts from 24 January 2026 under Ley 5/2025; the deposit itself remains mandatory under art. 36.1 LAU, but you hold it yourself.

A Spanish rental contract from SpanishRentalContract.com on a table, with a pen and house keys and the Spanish coast in the background

Sorted today — from €39

One wrong clause and your tenant stays five years.

Q: Will I get an AI template or a standard model contract?

No. You get a personally tailored document: assembled for your situation, regime and region, from clauses checked against the Spanish legislation in force, with the article of law and the reference date per clause. AI templates and free models often run years behind the current legislation.

Q: Isn't long-term letting too risky with all that tenant protection?

Less than you think, provided the contract is right from day one. With the art. 9.3 LAU reservation — expressly included in the contract at signing — you can, as a private landlord (not through a company), reclaim the property after the first year for yourself, first-degree family or your ex-spouse after divorce, on two months' notice. In return you get fixed rental income all year round, without a tourist licence and without reclassification risk.

Q: Is there a maximum rent for my property?

Only if your municipality has been designated a stressed zone under Ley 12/2023 — as at 30 July 2026 some 317 municipalities, exclusively in Catalonia, Navarre, the Basque Country, Asturias and Galicia. On the Costa Blanca, in Murcia, the Balearics, Andalucía, the Canary Islands and Madrid no rent cap applies.

Q: Is the deposit for a seasonal let in Spain one month or two?

Two months. Article 36.1 LAU requires a deposit of one month's rent for a residential tenancy and two months' rent for lets for a use other than housing, which includes seasonal lets.

Spanish rental law changed five times in eighteen months. A contract from last year is probably outdated — and you find out the moment your tenant does not leave. We work out which contract your situation calls for, with your region’s rules in it: the Spanish signing document, with every clause explained in English.

A lawyer or gestoría will write one for you from €65 to €120; drafted to measure it runs to €200–€500. See what it costs here.

Current through August 2026 · LAU · Ley 12/2023 · STS 620/2026 & Ley 5/2025 worked in

Already know what you need? Go straight to the packages, from €39

The right type firstResidential, seasonal or tourist — with the statute alongside
Your region by nameWhich deposit body, which deadline, which fine
Article and reference dateWhen the law changes, you get the new version

Packages

Everything is always included. You only choose how many properties, and for how long.

The complete contract with every clause and annex, and the generator — in every package. Pay once, no subscription. A lawyer or gestoría writes one for you from €65 to €120; drafted to measure €200–€500.

The Contract

For one property — residential or seasonal.

from

The Spanish contract as it gets signed. Not an English translation with a Spanish flavour — the document your tenant recognises and a Spanish court reads.
Every clause explained in English, with the statute and the date we verified it. You never sign anything you do not understand.
The deposit under art. 36.1 LAU, with your region’s depositing body named. Failing to lodge it is a finable offence in many regions — and you find out when it is too late.
For seasonal lets: the annex where your tenant records that they live elsewhere. That is your defence if someone later claims it was a residential let — and residential means five years.

Thirty days to correct it: a typo in a NIE, a different amount, a tenant who changes their mind.

Twelve months, as often as you like. If your tenant changes every season, this is the cheaper route.

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The Rental Kit

The contract and the book — for those who want more than the document.

one-off

Everything in The Contract
The Costa Blanca Rental Guide — ten chapters and five appendices: the right contract type, the deposit rules per region, and what you put in writing before handover.
The five mistakes that sink a temporada contract. Each ends the same way: your seasonal let turns out to be a residential one, and your tenant may stay.
Both stay current for twelve months — a new edition of the book, and new versions of the contract.
Bought separately . Here .

Annual licence

For two or three properties — sorted once, for the whole year.

one-off

Everything in The Rental Kit, book included
Up to three properties, twelve months, unlimited contracts
One dossier for all three — no juggling separate purchases per property.
Three separate years cost . This licence costs — and the book is in it.
Priority on support questions

In every pack

All annexes fillable digitally: inventory, handover, meter readings, checklists
Your own environment — your details and properties stay saved
Reading version in five languages — Spanish alongside English, Dutch, German, French or Spanish, in one document
New versions as soon as the law changes

Look inside

The Costa Blanca Rental Guide 2026/2027

64 pages · 10 chapters · 5 appendices

The experience you would otherwise acquire by accident: from the neighbour, or from a fine. Included in The Rental Kit — above.

Every chapter opens with the essence — here: the temporada

The three letting forms honestly side by side

One winter season worked through, tax included

The appendices are checklists you use straight away

Sold on its own, instant download. Every updated edition for twelve months is included — without the generator, which belongs to The Rental Kit.

Click a page to read it full-size

Prices include VAT · One-time payment, no subscription · Regenerate for as long as your term runs: thirty days or twelve months, whichever you choose.

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It turned out we had been using an outdated rental contract for years. As we don't speak Spanish ourselves, it was a real relief to finally read exactly what the contract says. That brings much more peace of mind.

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A welcome change from cutting and pasting in Word every single time. We let our property regularly for shorter periods and drawing up a new rental contract was a time-consuming chore each time. Now it's a matter of filling in a few details and the contract is ready. Saves a lot of time.

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Very handy. This way we know for certain our rental contract stays current and we're not chasing the facts.

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Ben Richardson

The contract generator

Fill it in once. Then every contract in minutes.

This is not a fill-in-the-blanks template with your name at the top. The generator assembles your contract clause by clause for your regime and your region, from a register we maintain against the legislation in force — with the article of law and the reference date per clause. You answer the questions in plain language and the document comes out fully completed. With The contract you keep generating for twelve months for your property; the Annual licence does the same for up to three properties.

1
Five questions about the situationThe generator determines the regime: residential tenancy under art. 2, seasonal let under art. 3.2, or tourist letting outside the LAU.
2
Your details, onceParties, the property with its cadastral reference, rent, term, deposit and the regional lodging rules. Your draft is saved automatically — with the same activation code and your e-mail address you simply carry on on another device.
3
The contract out, as one fileGrouped by the moment you need it: what you sign now, what you take to the key handover — and the delivery screen adds your region's timeline: the deposit deadline, the competent body and the sanction for lodging late, determined by your postcode.
4
Traceable, even years laterEvery contract carries a reference number in its footer. With it we can trace exactly which clause versions your contract carried, yéars later — even if the law has changed since. No loose template can do that.

Compare the packages

After activation you are logged straight into My account, and every document you generate is kept there as a file copy by default. The generator runs inside ContractHost, the platform these contracts come from. After twelve months, access simply stops — nothing renews and nothing is charged, and the documents you created remain yours. Managing more than three properties? Have a look at the business offer.

The ContractHost contract generator on a tablet

Frequently asked questions

What owners usually want to know

Will I get an AI template or a standard model contract?

No, neither. You get no ChatGPT template and no outdated model contract off the internet, but a personally tailored document: the generator assembles it for your situation, your regime and your region, from clauses that have each been checked against the Spanish legislation in force — with the article of law and the date the legislation was consulted, per clause.

That difference is not theoretical. AI assistants and free templates draw on whatever appears most often on the internet, not on what applies now: many still mention the deposit lodging with the AVRA that was abolished in Andalucía on 24 January 2026, and miss the Catalan rules that were tightened on 1 January 2026. When the law changes, our template is updated — and you are notified.

Isn't long-term letting too risky with all that tenant protection?

Less than you think — provided the contract is right from day one. The stories about owners losing access to their house almost always involve contracts where the protective clauses were missing. With the art. 9.3 LAU reservation — expressly included in the contract at signing — you can, as a private landlord (not through a company), reclaim the property after the first year for yourself, first-degree family or your ex-spouse after divorce, on two months' notice. The statutory deposit and the regional lodging rules cover damage and arrears, and in return you get fixed rental income all year round — no changeover stress, no tourist licence and no reclassification risk. For many owners it is, on balance, the calmest and most profitable choice.

Is the deposit for a seasonal let one month or two?

Two months. Article 36.1 LAU makes demanding and providing a deposit mandatory: one month's rent for a residential tenancy and two months' rent for lets for a use other than housing, which includes seasonal lets. Additional guarantees such as a guarantor or bank guarantee may be asked on top.

Do I have to register the deposit somewhere?

That differs per region, and it is often forgotten. In the Comunitat Valenciana the landlord must lodge the deposit with the Generalitat Valenciana within one month of signing; that applies to residential tenancies and to lets for other uses alike. Fail to do so and it is a serious infringement with a fine of up to €3,000, plus surcharges and interest.

In Catalonia it runs through INCASÒL, with a two-month deadline. For seasonal contracts you do not lodge the full two months' rent there, but the share pro rata to the term. In the Balearics it goes through IBAVI.

In Andalucía that duty has lapsed. For rental contracts with a start date on or after 24 January 2026 the deposit no longer has to be lodged with the AVRA; that was scrapped by Ley 5/2025, the Andalusian housing act. The contract’s start date is decisive, not the signing date. An important detail: only the lódging has lapsed — the deposit itself remains mandatory under art. 36.1 LAU; you now hold it yourself.

Is there a maximum rent for my property?

Only if your municipality has been designated a zona de mercado residencial tensionado under Ley 12/2023. As at 30 July 2026 that is some 317 municipalities, and they lie exclusively in five regions: Catalonia, Navarre, the Basque Country, Asturias and Galicia. The Constitutional Court has upheld rent regulation in six rulings by now (including STC 79/2024, STC 17/2026 and STC 53/2026 of 8 July 2026); only a few competence provisions were struck down — the cap itself stands.

Letting on the Costa Blanca, in Murcia, the Balearics, Andalucía, the Canary Islands or Madrid? Then no rent cap applies. The Comunitat Valenciana has expressly refused to declare zones, even after thirteen municipalities formally asked it to.

One important exception: Catalonia. There, since 1 January 2026, Llei 11/2025 brings seasonal lets and room rentals under the cap in declared zones too, and you must substantiate the temporary purpose of a seasonal contract with documents lodged at INCASÒL. Without that evidence, the contract counts as a permanent residential tenancy by operation of law.

More questions? The guides carry the full answers, with the statutes beside them.