What You Need to Know when Renting an Apartment in Barcelona

If you are planning to live in Barcelona for a while, and you are looking for an apartment to rent, it is good to look for information on the paperwork and other basic knowledge on renting a home, based on current regulations. What is the least you should know when renting your home in Barcelona?

Gather some of the basic information you need by reading this blog article by ShBarcelona.

What you need to rent an apartment in Barcelona

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The team from ShBarcelona would like to share some general information about renting housing in Barcelona with you today. It is important to know the costs that have to be paid by the tenant, basic conditions in the contract and necessary documentation to formalize the rental contract.

Before you agree on renting an apartment, make sure you know of all the expenses you, as a tenant, will have to pay for:

A first, monthly payment and a deposit worth one month’s rent
The owner has the right to ask for additional guarantees
If necessary, register for water, gas and electricity
Real Estate and Property Manager fees
Transfer tax. The amount of tax that needs to be paid depends on current regulations and has to be dealt with within 30 days after signing the rental contract.

If you have found a rental property that you are seriously interested in, collect important information before continuing with the process. What condition is the property in? What are the details in the contract? Are there any specific clauses that need further explanation?

Before paying any amount of money, this is the minimum information you should have:

A description of the property with up-to-date information on installations, services, utilities and surface area, etcetera
The rental price and a breakdown of all other expenses for the tenant
The duration of the rental agreement
The deposit and, if requested by the landlord, other guarantees
The way the rental price will be updated during the rental period

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When renting a property, you are legally not obliged to be on a payroll, but as you can guess, many landlords do require it as a guarantee.

Sometimes landlords even reject a potential tenant, if he thinks the level of income is not sufficient to pay for monthly rent.

So the wise thing to do is to make a thorough analysis of your financial situation, to find out how much money you can spend on a monthly rent. If a tenant cannot show the landlord any payslips, be aware of the fact that it is possible to provide a bank guarantee or personal guarantee.

As for the information that is requested from a property owner, these are the documents he needs to present to rent out an apartment in Barcelona:

The rental contract, containing essential information like its duration, monthly rent, personal details from the owner, form of payment, clauses, etcetera.
Land register reference
Habitation certificate
Energy efficiency label

If you need any general information on rental contracts, you can schedule an appointment with Barcelona’s Housing Offices.

You can also check out assistance options for both landlords and tenants, like certain benefits (fair rent) and help for owners (Barcelona’s Bolsa de Vivienda de Alquiler).

What other important information do you have on renting an apartment in Barcelona?