Renting: who pays for repairs and costs

"The boiler's broken", "there's damp", "the tap's dripping": sooner or later, every tenancy generates the same question: is this mine to pay or the tenant's? The law gives a general criterion, but the contract rules on many details. Here's what each rule says and how to make it clear from day one.

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

The law's general criterion

The logic is simple and worth memorising:

• The landlord pays for repairs needed to keep the home in habitable condition: the structure, the general installations (plumbing, electrics), the boiler if it breaks down through wear, damp coming from the building.
• The tenant pays for minor repairs from ordinary wear and tear: the dripping tap, the cistern that won't stop filling, a jammed blind, light bulbs, silicone seals.

Put another way: what breaks through being used is fixed by whoever uses it; what breaks through being old or being faulty is fixed by whoever owns it.

Real-life cases (the genuine ones)

• The boiler stops working. If it's a breakdown from age or wear, the landlord pays (including replacement if it can't be fixed). If the tenant has misused it, they pay.
• Damp. If it comes from the facade, the roof or a communal pipe, it's the landlord's (and sometimes the community's). If the tenant causes it by not ventilating, it's theirs.
• Appliances included in the rental. If they were included in the inventory, replacement through normal wear is the landlord's; misuse is the tenant's. That's why an inventory with photos is worth its weight in gold.
• Locks, taps, cisterns. Minor everyday repairs: the tenant's.
• Painting the flat. On moving in, the landlord delivers the home in good condition. On moving out, the tenant doesn't have to leave it "as new": normal wear over the years is not damage. Painting for mere passage of time can't be charged to them.

The costs: community charges, IBI and utilities

Here's the usual split —unless agreed otherwise in the contract:

• Community charges (comunidad de propietarios): normally paid by the landlord, because it's a cost tied to ownership of the property. It can be agreed that the tenant pays them, but it must be in writing and with a clear amount.
• IBI (the municipal property tax): the landlord's tax. It can also be passed on to the tenant if expressly agreed in the contract.
• Utilities (water, electricity, gas, internet): paid by whoever consumes them — that is, the tenant. The normal thing is to switch the contracts into their name at the start of the tenancy.
• Rubbish tax and similar: depends on the municipality and on what's agreed; put it in writing.

The practical rule: anything passed on to the tenant must be agreed in writing, with the concept and the amount or the calculation criterion. What isn't written down doesn't exist when there's an argument.

How to lock it down in the contract

1. Repairs clause: reproduce the legal criterion (conservation vs. minor repairs) and add examples. The more examples, the fewer arguments.
2. Costs clause: list each cost (community charges, IBI, utilities, rubbish tax) and who pays it, one by one. Nothing like "the tenant pays current costs": that's a ticking time bomb.
3. Reporting protocol: set out how the tenant must notify you of a breakdown (in writing, with photos) and how quickly you act. Many arguments are born of a lost WhatsApp.
4. Inventory with photos: we already said it in the contract types, but this is where it pays off: without an inventory you can't tell wear from damage.

Golden rule: faced with a breakdown, respond quickly even if you think it's not yours to fix. A landlord who takes three weeks to fix the boiler doesn't just lose the tenant: they lose the moral high ground in any later claim.

And if there's a disagreement

First, the contract: re-read what was agreed before arguing. Then, dialogue with concrete proposals (the plumber's quote, before-and-after photos). If there's no agreement, there are mediation routes and, as a last resort, the courts. But experience says 90% of these disputes would have been avoided with a contract that listed the costs one by one.

Renting out your home in Cullera or La Safor? At Llevant Patrimonial we prepare contracts with the split of costs and repairs settled in detail, so neither you nor your tenant has to guess anything. Opening soon.