Estate agents (inmobiliarias) and the fees they can charge

Key rules

• Reservation: A reservation payment is never a way to cover agency costs; get it in writing.
• Optional services: You pay for an optional service only if you requested it in writing after being told its price.

Who pays the agent: the landlord

The landlord pays. Agency and contract-formalisation fees go to the landlord however the charge is renamed, so you should not be asked for them. The rule applies to contracts signed since 26 May 2023, whether the landlord is a person or a company. Before that, from 2019, it applied only when the landlord was a company.

The rule is national. It does not change by region.

It covers a home you will live in as your main residence. Since 8 October 2026 it also covers temporary and room lets, and the landlord's management and formalisation costs cannot be passed to you directly or indirectly, including for preparing, formalising, managing, changing or renewing the contract. Commercial lets stay outside it.

Older websites still say tenants pay a month's rent or 10% of the annual rent. Do not accept that for a normal home rental.

What an agent does

An agent is hired by the landlord. They value the flat and set the rent, advertise it, organise viewings, check tenants' references and finances, and draft the contract. Some also collect rent and handle problems. Because the landlord pays and the checks protect the landlord, do not expect the agent to look after your interests. You owe the agent nothing for this work.

Extras in listings: lawful or not

• Agency, management, formalisation or administration charge: not lawful for you, under any name.
• Fianza above one month's rent: abusive.
• Extra guarantee (deposit or bank guarantee): lawful up to two months' rent in contracts up to five years, or seven if the landlord is a company. It cannot be used to cover repairs or upkeep. Above the cap it is abusive.
• Reservation payment (señal): not a fee. It is lawful only as an agreed advance, never as a disguised agency cost. No legal amount exists. Whether you get it back depends on the written document, so get one before you pay.
• Community fees and the IBI: you pay them only through a written clause in the lease that states the annual amount.
• Optional services, such as insurance: you pay only if you asked for them in writing after being told they were optional and what they cost.
• Furniture fees: nothing specific applies. Ask what the charge covers, and refuse it if it is really an agency or contract cost.

Adding a charge to your comparison

Compare flats on the total cost over the first year. Add only the lawful costs you will really pay:

1. Monthly rent × 12.
2. Plus the fianza, and any extra guarantee.
3. Plus community fees or the IBI, if a written clause in the lease passes them to you.
4. Plus any optional service you chose in writing.

Do not add an agency fee. If a listing asks for one, treat it as a charge to refuse, not as part of the price.

If you already paid

Ask the agency for a refund in writing. If it refuses, complain to your town hall's consumer office or your region's consumer department. Madrid, for example, accepts claims against companies but not private individuals. Disputes with a private landlord go to the courts.

Choosing between options

Should you pay this charge the agency or listing asks for?

• Pay it, with a document: It is a reservation advance, agreed in writing, with the amount, duration and penalties stated and a receipt.
• Pay it as normal: It is a utility billed by meter, which is always the tenant's.

Frequently asked questions

Do I get my reservation back if the lease is not signed?

It depends on the document you signed, the messages and the receipt. If the paper says you lose the money when you withdraw, you can lose it. If it says the sum is doubled back when the owner withdraws, the owner owes you double. With nothing in writing, it is hard to prove what was agreed.

References

1. Spain's rental law, consolidated text
2. Consumer ministry note on abusive clauses in rental contracts
3. Madrid consumer guidance on renting a home