{"id":106984,"date":"2022-09-20T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/sin-categoria\/preguntas-al-visitar-un-piso-para-alquilar\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T06:00:00","slug":"questions-to-ask-when-viewing-flat-to-rent-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/rent\/questions-to-ask-when-viewing-flat-to-rent-spain\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to ask when visiting a flat to rent in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<table class=\"table table-striped table-color-200\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Always check the<strong> state of repair of the property and any existing damage<\/strong>, as the Urban Leases Act (LAU) regulates repair responsibilities between landlord and tenant.<\/li>\n<li>Ask specifically <strong>whether the rental price includes community fees and IBI (property tax)<\/strong>, and confirm whether <strong>utilities<\/strong> are connected and up to date with payments.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure to<strong> agree in writing on specific clauses regarding pet ownership or minor renovations<\/strong>, since the landlord has the right to prohibit them contractually under current legislation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Finding <b>the perfect rental flat<\/b> is not easy, as there are many factors at play. Therefore, if you are thinking of renting a property, you should carefully analyze what you are looking for to <b>choose the most suitable one based on your needs<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>At Fotocasa, we explain the essential list of questions to ask when viewing a rental flat, along with all the technical elements you should inspect during the visit.<\/p>\n<p>How much is the maximum deposit they can ask from you?<\/p>\n<h2>12 key questions to ask when viewing a Flat to rent in Spain<\/h2>\n<p>To choose the most suitable property based on your needs, you should ask a series of specific questions before signing the rental contract. Here are the fundamental points you should clarify with the landlord or estate agency during your in-person visit:<\/p>\n<h3>1. What expenses are included in the monthly rent?<\/h3>\n<p>You need to know which items are included in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/rent\/the-price-of-rental-housing-in-spain\/?lang=en\">rental price<\/a> and which are not. For instance, <b>who pays the homeowners&#8217; association fees, the IBI (property tax)<\/b>, or municipal taxes. Clearing up this question prevents unexpected extra costs.<\/p>\n<h3>2. How many months of security deposit and additional guarantees are required?<\/h3>\n<p>According to the latest update of the Urban Leases Act (LAU) in Spain, only <b>one month of legal deposit plus a maximum of two months&#8217; rent<\/b> as an additional guarantee can be requested for a primary residence. Clarify the total required upon signing to make your financial calculations.<\/p>\n<h3>Financial Terms of the Rental in Spain<\/h3>\n<table class=\"table table-striped table-color-100\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Guarantee<\/th>\n<th>Legal Limit (LAU)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mandatory legal deposit<\/td>\n<td>1 month&#8217;s rent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Additional guarantee<\/td>\n<td>Maximum 2 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Standard initial total<\/td>\n<td>Maximum 3 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><i>Source: Urban Leases Act (LAU), 2026.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>As shown in the table above, the law limits additional guarantees to facilitate access to housing.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Are utilities connected and whose name are they under?<\/h3>\n<p>In Spain, water, electricity, and gas services must be active before you move in. Once the agreement is signed, the most convenient step is to <b>transfer utility bills to the tenant&#8217;s name<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip:<\/strong> You can ask how much utility bills typically amount to, so you can get an idea of your monthly expenses.<\/p>\n<h3>4. What type of contract will be signed and what is its duration?<\/h3>\n<p>Primary residence contracts have a <b>minimum duration of one year, automatically renewable for up to 5 years<\/b> (or 7 if the landlord is a company), unless the tenant gives 30 days&#8217; notice of their intent not to renew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fotocasa is the expert real estate portal if you are looking for your home in Spain and want to resolve your doubts about housing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":107012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13593],"tags":[16332,16355,16354,14821,13552,13639,13550,16352,13606,13547,13691,13638,13640,16353,16356,16336],"class_list":["post-106984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rent","tag-elegir-piso-para-alquilar","tag-expat-rental-guide","tag-flat-viewing-spain","tag-foreign","tag-housing-doubts","tag-housing-rental-market-in-spain","tag-live-in-spain","tag-questions-to-ask-when-viewing-a-flat-to-rent-in-spain","tag-quiero-alquilar","tag-real-estate-market","tag-rent","tag-rent-in-spain","tag-rental-experts-in-spain","tag-renting-in-spain","tag-tenant-tips-spain","tag-visitar-pisos-para-alquilar"],"modified_by":"Patricia Andr\u00e9s","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}