How much money do you actually need before the keys?
Flat Spain adds up every euro a Spanish landlord asks for before handover and separates the part the law supports from the part it does not. On a primary residence the lawful maximum is one month's fianza, two further months of additional guarantee, and the first month's rent — and since 26 May 2023 the agency's commission is the landlord's cost, not yours. Three months' deposit plus a month's agency fee on a €1,800 flat comes to €9,000, of which €1,800 should never have been charged.
What the law allows
Three numbers decide whether a demand is lawful, and all three are commonly misstated by the person asking you for the money.
| Charge | Limit on your home | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Fianza (mandatory deposit) | 1 month's rent | Article 36.1 LAU |
| Additional guarantee | 2 months' rent, aval included | Article 36.5 LAU |
| Agency commission | Not payable by the tenant | Housing law, 26 May 2023 |
| First month's rent | No limit — it is the rent | Your contract |
The dated figures behind these sit on the deposit limit and the agency-fee ban, each with the statute and the date we last checked it.
Why the fee did not disappear
Reassigning the commission to the landlord did not remove the money from the transaction. It reappeared on tenants' invoices under other headings — an administrative charge, a contract-formalisation fee, a tenancy-management cost.
The ban is on the commission itself, not on the word used for it. That is why the productive question at the counter is not “is this legal” but “what service is this billing me, as the tenant, for?” — a question that is hard to answer in writing when the honest answer is the one the law reassigned.
Where a genuinely separate service was supplied to you, an inventory report you asked for, say, that is a different matter. The test is whether you chose it.
Common questions
How much money do I need upfront to rent a flat in Spain?
On a primary-residence lease, lawfully: one month's fianza, up to two further months as an additional guarantee, and the first month's rent. On a €1,100 flat that is €2,200 at the low end and €4,400 at the ceiling. Anything charged as an agency fee on top is the landlord's cost, not yours.
Is the agency fee illegal in Spain, and who pays it?
Since 26 May 2023 the agency's commission for finding a tenant and formalising a residential lease is the landlord's to pay. The charge did not disappear — it reappears under new names on tenants' invoices — so the question to ask is not whether it is legal but what the line item is actually for.
Can a landlord ask for three months' deposit?
On a primary residence, yes, but that is the ceiling and not the norm: one month is the mandatory fianza under article 36 LAU and up to two more may be held as an additional guarantee under article 36.5. A bank aval counts inside that two months rather than on top of it.
Does the deposit cap apply to an 11-month temporada contract?
No, and that is part of why the framing spreads. A seasonal let takes a two-month fianza and the cap on additional guarantees does not apply, so a deposit that would be unlawful on your home is not unlawful on a temporada contract. If the flat is genuinely your residence, the contract type is what to challenge first.
They renamed the agency fee. Does that make it lawful?
The ban is on the commission, whoever writes the invoice and whatever it is headed. Asking for an itemised breakdown by concept is the fastest way to establish what you are actually being billed for as a tenant.
The cheapest way to win this argument is not to have it
Flat Spain screens every listing on your shortlist, decodes the contract type, and benchmarks the rent against its own barrio — so the terms are visible before you are standing in an agency office with a transfer to make.
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