The rental market in Spain is facing unprecedented pressure. And the problem is particularly acute in large cities, like Madrid. According to a recent study by Idealista, in 2024, each rental ad in the Madrid community receives an average of 43 contacts from interested parties, 60% more than the previous year, when this figure was 27 contacts per ad. . Housing is already one of the main concerns of Spaniards and represents a headache for many families.
The housing law approved in the last legislature was one of the main workhorses of Unidas Podemos and, after tough negotiations, one of the great legacies of the first coalition government between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos . Although it turned out to be less ambitious than some parties wanted, the rule sought to balance the relationship between landlords and tenants and regulated important aspects of the rental market.
The current law consists of two different parts: the measures that must be respected throughout the State and those that are applied on the basis of the will of the executive of the autonomy. In the case of Madrid, the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso chose not to apply the mechanism of “stress zones” to set a limit on the rental price, arguing that it harms the autonomous communities and that “the only thing What he does is multiply the tourist floors because the owners are afraid to rent their accommodation.”
On the other hand, other measures such as the ban on invoicing months in advance, property management fees payable by the owner and the extraordinary extension of contracts in cases of vulnerability are mandatory throughout Spain. However, the Madrid Tenants Union warns that some landlords are trying to set traps to get around them.
Despite the entry into force of the law on the right to housing in May 2023, many owners and real estate agencies are using loopholes to escape the new regulations. The law, which prohibits charging tenants for management fees and requires that these fees be borne by the landlord, is systematically violated, according to some organizations such as FACUA and the Madrid Tenants Union.
The consumer association has already filed 31 complaints against real estate agencies for non-compliance with regulations in force in the main Spanish capitals. FACUA accuses them of illegally charging commissions to tenants under fictitious concepts such as “feasibility studies” or using ambiguous terms such as “fees”. This scenario leaves tenants in a defenseless situation in the face of an increasingly inaccessible market.
If we talk to tenants in the city of Madrid we can see that the vast majority have paid the fees or “management fees” of the real estate agency. This is the case of Hugo, who had to cover the fees even though he had formalized the contract in June of that same year, with the law already in force. Or Jorge, who was also forced by the owner to make an advance of two months and pay for a “final cleaning” of the house, in addition to having to bear fixed supply costs without taking into account their variability.
In contrast, the Housing Act separates the updating of the rent price from the CPI value. In 2022 and 2023, the stipulated limit was 2%, while in 2024 this rate increased to 3%. Starting January 1, 2025, a new index will come into effect to update rents, designed to be more stable and lower than the CPI. The INE will define this index before the end of 2024, according to the provisions of the law.
However, in the city of Madrid we see frequent cases of abusive increases. This is the case of Eli and Marcos, who paid €1,029 for the rent of their apartment in the Moncloa district and who have now paid €1,119 after the increase imposed by their landlord. The increase represents an increase of 8.75%, while the limit is 3%. In their case, they accepted the price update because they had not found a better housing alternative in the area.
In this sense, according to the latest Fotocasa study, only 24% of owners have negotiated rental prices with tenants in the past year. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 tenants complain about high rental prices and 70% blame the excessive prices on their difficulty in accessing housing.
Another loophole that owners find to circumvent price regulations is the room or seasonal rental formula, given that they are not protected by the Urban Lease Law (LAU). This is why social organizations and tenant unions presented a bill to Congress last Tuesday to amend the LAU. The initiative, which had already been rejected by PP, UPN and VOX, was rejected at the last minute by Junts.
For now, this type of rental will remain unprotected and the door to practices such as charging the same family or group of people for a room will remain open. This is the case of Alberto and Pablo, who moved together to the 4 Towers district of Madrid and were forced to rent the apartment by room and not the entire apartment (paying €600 each instead of €1 000 € that the rent costs). the apartment) the whole house).
Tenants’ associations and unions are demanding more ambitious and forceful measures to tackle one of the main problems facing citizens of Spain’s big cities, particularly among young people, while some real estate agencies and landlords criticize “the interventionism” of the government on this issue, although the Constitutional Court upheld most of the text.
