Renting out your home: contract types and what each must include

If you're going to rent out your flat, the first step isn't finding a tenant: it's knowing which type of contract you're going to sign. Not all rentals are treated the same by the law, and choosing the wrong model can leave you with a contract that doesn't protect what you think it does.

Please note: this is general, educational information, not legal advice. For your specific case, consult a professional.

The most common contract types

1. Residential tenancy (vivienda habitual)

This is the classic contract: someone rents your flat to live in it as their permanent residence. It's the most regulated type and the most protective for the tenant: the law sets minimum durations, extensions and limits on what you can agree. In return, you as the landlord gain stability: a tenant who stays for years is the best deal there is.

Use it when the tenant is going to register as a resident (empadronarse) and make their life in your home. Don't try to disguise a residential tenancy as something else to dodge the regulation: if the tenant really lives there, the courts will treat it as a vivienda habitual whatever the paperwork says.

2. Seasonal tenancy (arrendamiento de temporada)

Designed for temporary stays with a specific cause: a worker posted elsewhere for a few months, a student on a course, someone whose own home is being renovated. The key is that the temporary nature must be real and justified in the contract (the reason, the dates). It carries fewer mandatory protections than a residential tenancy, but also less room for manoeuvre if the temporary cause doesn't exist.

3. Holiday or tourist rental

If you're going to rent your flat out by the day or week to tourists, this is normally not an urban tenancy contract: in most autonomous communities it's a regulated tourist activity that requires registration, a licence or prior notification, and meeting certain requirements (cédula de habitabilidad — the habitability certificate, minimum equipment, insurance...). In the Comunitat Valenciana there's a specific register of viviendas de uso turístico (homes for tourist use).

Don't improvise: renting by the night without being registered can cost you dearly in fines. If you're torn between long-term rental and holiday rental, do your sums calmly: holiday lets earn more per night but have irregular occupancy, more management and more wear on the flat.

4. Room rental

Renting out individual rooms in your own home (living there too, or renting a whole flat out room by room) has a different regime from renting the whole flat. It's a common option in university cities, but the contract should make it very clear which spaces are shared, what the house rules are and how costs are split.

What a good contract must include

Whatever the type, a serious contract always covers:

• The parties: landlord and tenant identified with DNI/NIE (Spanish ID / foreigner's ID number).
• The property: address, referencia catastral (the cadastral reference) if you have it, and exactly what's being rented (does it include the storage room? the parking space?).
• The rent and its review: how much, when it's paid, how it's paid and the criterion for the annual update.
• Duration and extensions: clear start and end dates, and what happens at expiry.
• The deposit: how much is handed over and on what terms it's returned (the deposit, explained here).
• Costs and repairs: who pays the community charges, the IBI (the municipal property tax), the utilities and which repairs belong to whom (who pays what in a rental).
• The inventory and the state of the flat: describe the furniture and general condition, ideally with dated photos. It's your evidence if there's damage at the end.
• Grounds for termination: non-payment, unauthorised subletting, serious damage, use other than agreed.

Typical mistakes of the novice landlord

1. A verbal contract or an unadapted "internet" template. A generic model doesn't know whether your flat has a storage room, whether you allow pets or who pays the community charges. Adapt it or commission one.
2. No inventory with photos. Without proof of the initial state, any damage becomes a "you say / I say".
3. Not asking the tenant for documentation. ID, employment contract or proof of income and, if you can, references. It's not distrust: it's diligence.
4. Taking the deposit and "keeping it in a drawer". The deposit has a legal regime and must be lodged where it belongs.
5. Signing without reading your insurance's small print. If you have home insurance, tell the insurer the property is being rented: some policies change their terms.

Golden rule: the contract is negotiated when both parties still like each other; afterwards it only gets argued about. Spend an afternoon on it before signing and you'll save yourself months of trouble.

Renting out in Cullera or La Safor? At Llevant Patrimonial we help you choose the right contract type and get everything in writing before you hand over the keys. Opening soon.