Did you know that the legal deposit for a rental property is equivalent to one month’s rent or that the contract can be extended up to 5 or 7 years? If you have a property and you want to rent it or you are a tenant looking for a home, it is very important that you know the contents of the Law on Urban Leases. We tell you about it in detail in this article.
To which properties does the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos apply?
The Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (Urban Leases Act) applies to leases of urban properties that are intended for housing or for uses other than housing. Specifically, a residential lease is considered to be a lease of a habitable building whose purpose is to satisfy the tenant’s permanent need for housing.
The law does not apply to dwellings whose surface area exceeds 300 square metres or with an initial rent that exceeds 5.5 times the minimum interprofessional wage on an annual basis.
On the other hand, housing leases will be governed by the agreements, clauses and conditions established by the parties within the framework of the provisions of Title II of the law and by the Civil Code on a supplementary basis.
What is the duration of a rental contract?
The duration of the contract is established in article 9 of the law on urban leases which establishes that it will be freely agreed by the parties and that if it is less than 5 years or 7 years (in the case of legal entity landlords), it will be extended for annual periods until it reaches the minimum duration of 5 years or 7 years, unless the tenant communicates, at least 30 days before the end date of the contract of any of its extensions, their wish not to renew.
In the event that the contract does not establish a term, it will be considered to be for 1 year and the tenant will have the rights of extension that we have seen in the previous section.
After 5 years or 7 years, if the lessor is a legal entity, the contract will be extended by annual instalments up to a maximum of 3 years unless the tenant gives the lessor one month’s notice of his wish not to renew the contract. The period of notice, in these cases, for the lessor who does not wish to apply the extension is four months.
Therefore, housing rental contracts are not indefinite as was the case with the 1964 Urban Leases Act, but their maximum duration is 5 years plus 3 years of extension in the case of landlords who are natural persons.
Can the tenant withdraw from the contract?
Article 11 of the law on urban leases regulates the cancellation by the tenant once 6 months of the contract have elapsed and as long as the tenant informs the landlord at least 30 days in advance. In these cases, the parties may agree in the contract that in the event of termination, the tenant must compensate the landlord with an amount equivalent to one month’s rent for each year of the contract that remains to be fulfilled.
How is the rent established and revised?
Based on the regulation of the law, the landlord and the tenant can freely agree on the rent. The rent is payable monthly and must be paid within the first 7 days of each month.
The rent can be revised annually by the landlord or by the tenant depending on what has been agreed in the contract. If nothing has been agreed, no rent update is applied.
If the parties have agreed on the update, but not on the mechanism to carry it out, the competitiveness guarantee index will be applied.
What guarantees can be requested?
To guarantee the fulfillment of the rental contract, it is mandatory that the lessee delivers to the lessor one month’s rent as a bond in the case of housing leases. The landlord can ask the tenant for an additional guarantee such as a bank guarantee, a deposit in guarantee or a personal guarantee.
What are the obligations of the lessor and the lessee?
The main obligations of the parties in the housing rental contract are as follows:
For the lessor. Carry out all the repairs that are necessary to keep the house in habitable conditions in a way that serves the agreed use unless it is a deterioration whose repair is imputable to the tenant.
For the lessee. Carry out small repairs in the house due to the use of the same and the payment of the rent. In addition, the lessee cannot carry out works that modify the configuration of the house or its accessories (garages or storage rooms, for example) without the written consent of the lessor.
What is the right of withdrawal?
In case of sale of the leased house, the tenant will have the so-called preferential right of acquisition, which is divided into two rights: the right of appraisal and the right of withdrawal. However, the parties may agree in the contract that the tenant expressly waives the right of trial and withdrawal.
What happens in case of non-compliance?
If one of the parties to the rental contract fails to fulfill some of the obligations contained in the contract, the other party will have the right to demand compliance or promote the resolution of the said contract. In the case of the lessor, he will have the right to terminate the contract in the case of:
non-payment of rent or any of the amounts that correspond to paying the tenant.
Failure to pay the deposit or update it.
Subarriendo or cession consented.
Realization of works not consented by the lessor
Realization of disturbing, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illegal activities in the home.
When the housing ceases to be intended to satisfy the tenant’s permanent need for housing.
The lessee, for his part, can resolve the rental contract in the following cases:
When the lessor does not make the necessary repairs to keep the house in habitable conditions.
Cuando se produzca una disturbance De hecho derecho that the lessor realizes in the utilization of the housing.
On the other hand, the lease will be terminated by the loss of the leased property due to a cause not attributable to the lessor or by the firm declaration of ruin agreed by a competent authority.
¿La LAU regula el seguro del hogar?
La ley no se refiere en ningún caso al seguro del hogar por lo que no es obligatorio que el arrendatario lo contrate, pero si es recomendable.
Por otra parte, el arrendador podrá tener un seguro relativo al continente de la vivienda para cubrir determinados daños.
En definitiva, la ley de arrendamientos urbanos es la que regula el arrendamiento de vivienda y es fundamental conocerla tanto para los propietarios como para los futuros inquilinos. Si necesitas ayuda para el alquiler de tu casa, ponte en contacto con nosotros. Somos asesores inmobiliarios expertos y te ayudaremos y asesoraremos en todo el proceso.
