The new Housing Right Law was published in the Official State Gazette in May this year and is one of the reforms included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. According to the official government site, the text includes measures to increase the supply of affordable housing, prevent market tensions in the rental sector, and support young people and vulnerable groups in accessing housing. It also offers autonomous communities and municipalities different tools to curb or reduce rent prices and to expand the social rental housing stock.
This regulation, one of the most controversial in recent years, ended with a pact to cap rent at 3 percent, subject to a 2025 revision. It also sets at five the number of homes a person or entity must own to be considered a large landlord.
El gran cambio que llega con la Ley de Vivienda para las personas que viven de alquiler
Anyone who has faced rent payments knows there are several costs that make it hard to access a first home. On one hand, the security deposit, which, depending on the contract type, can exceed one month’s rent. On many occasions, rental portals also charge a fee or commission, a cost the tenant previously had to pay to the managing agency.
Now, according to statements from parliamentary groups, the costs and fees generated by renting a property will always be borne by the owner.
This means that, from the law’s effective date, tenants or landlords will bear the fee charged by the agency when renting the home. In this way, abusive real estate fees that keep many people, especially young people, from accessing housing due to the upfront expense are ended. The real estate service is provided to the owner, so the owner must cover the costs generated by that service.
La Ley 12/2023 de 24 de mayo por el derecho a la vivienda se publica en el BOE
On Thursday, May 25, the Law 12/2023 of May 24 on the right to housing was published in the Official State Gazette. From May 26 it will be illegal for real estate agencies to charge any management fees to tenants; those costs will be passed on to the property owner. In addition, autonomous communities will have the power to regulate rents.