Can your landlord enter your home or show it?

Key rules

• Consent: Your landlord needs your consent to enter or show your home, except in a genuine emergency or with a court order.
• Visit clauses: A lease clause allowing viewings does not replace your consent, but unreasonable refusal can be used against you.
• Repairs: You must allow needed repairs at an agreed time, and urgent ones straight away.
• Long works: Long works: If repairs drag on past 20 days, you may be able to pay less rent for the part of the home you can't use. The full rule is set out in the article on who pays for repairs.

The short answer

Your rented home is your home, even though the landlord owns it. The law treats it as inviolable. The landlord needs your consent to enter it or show it to anyone, except in a genuine emergency. A court order can also allow entry.

Does a visit clause change this?

Only a little. Many leases say the landlord may show the home to buyers or new tenants. That clause does not let the landlord enter whenever they like. You cannot give blanket consent in advance to anyone entering your home.

In practice, courts treat such a clause as a promise to cooperate. Visits need reasonable notice, an agreed day and time, and you present or giving consent. They must not be abusive.

The landlord cannot force their way in. But if you refuse every visit for no good reason, that can count against you as bad faith. Offer reasonable times instead. The precise limits come from court decisions and vary between courts.

When can someone enter without your consent?

• A court has ordered it.
• A crime is being committed inside.
• There is a real emergency, such as a fire, a flood or a gas leak. Firefighters, police and emergency services can enter to protect people or property.

A landlord has no general right of entry beyond real necessity. If the risk is genuine and urgent, they may act, but they should document what happened and tell you. Whether it was a real emergency is judged afterwards.

Gas, electricity or water companies can enter only with your consent or a legal authorisation.

Repairs: you must allow access

The landlord must carry out repairs needed to keep the home habitable, and you must tolerate them. That means giving access with reasonable notice and at an agreed time. Ordinary repairs have no fixed legal notice period, so check your lease for one.

Urgent repairs that cannot wait must be allowed even if inconvenient. Tell your landlord promptly when something needs repair.

Allowing access doesn't cost you your rights if the works run past 20 days. In that case you may pay less rent for the part of the home you can't use. The full rule is set out in the article on who pays for repairs.

If you refuse access without good reason, you may breach your duties and have to pay for any damage that results.

If someone enters without consent

Entering your home without consent can be a crime (allanamiento de morada). It can also justify a claim for damages or let you end the lease. If this happens, get legal advice or contact the police.

See the decision, timeline, checklist, warnings and FAQ below for the practical steps.

Choosing between options

Someone asks to come into your home: do you have to let them in?

• Let them in straight away: There is a fire, flood or gas leak and firefighters, police or emergency services come in to protect people or property, or someone shows a court order.

• Agree a day and time: Your landlord wants to show the home to a buyer or new tenant, or to do a repair they must carry out. Allow reasonable notice and agree the timing, and be present or give your consent.

• Say no: A landlord or a utility company turns up with no consent, no court order and no real emergency. Utilities need your consent or a legal authorisation.

Your home is protected, so entry needs your consent or a court order. The exceptions are a genuine emergency or a crime in progress. A visit clause in the lease does not replace your consent.

Timeline and deadlines

• Tell your landlord about the repair that is needed: As soon as you notice the problem

• Agree the day and time for access to the home: Before the works start, with reasonable notice from your landlord

• Let the repair team in on the agreed day: On the agreed day and time

• Allow an urgent repair that cannot wait, even if it is inconvenient: Straight away, without waiting for a convenient date

• Check whether you can ask for a rent reduction: If the works drag on, see "Who pays for repairs: landlord or tenant"

Checklist

• Report each repair in writing, such as a message or email, and keep a copy

• Check your lease for any notice period it states for repair visits

• Agree a day and time for each repair visit before it happens

• Be at home, or give your consent, for each agreed visit

• Let an urgent repair go ahead straight away, even if it is inconvenient

• Note the start and end dates of any works so you can tell whether they pass 20 days

• Ask for any visit you have not agreed to be rescheduled to a time that suits you

What to watch out for

• A visit clause does not give your landlord a key to your door: A lease clause allowing visits for a sale or a new tenant does not let the landlord enter whenever they like. Consent to enter your home cannot be given in advance for all time. Treat the clause as a promise to cooperate, not a right of entry. Offer reasonable days and times, be present or give consent each time, and say no to visits with no notice.

• Unreasonable refusal can be used against you: Refusing every visit without good reason can be treated as acting against good faith, even though your landlord cannot force entry. Suggest alternative times in writing and keep a copy.

• Blocking needed repairs can make you pay for the damage: If you refuse access without good reason for repairs the landlord must carry out, you may be liable for damage that results. Agree a time for the works, and let urgent repairs go ahead at once.

• A claimed emergency may be questioned later: A landlord with no general right to enter may act only in a real emergency with genuine urgency and risk. Whether it was one is judged afterwards. If your landlord enters, ask what the emergency was and ask to be told in writing. Keep photos or messages as proof.

• Entry without your consent can be a crime: A landlord who enters your home without your consent or a court order, outside an emergency, may commit the crime of allanamiento de morada. You may also claim damages or end the lease. Tell the landlord in writing that they need your consent, and seek legal advice if it happens again.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I refuse viewings altogether?

Your landlord cannot force their way in. But if you refuse without good reason, a court may see it as acting against good faith. Offer reasonable days and times instead of a flat no.

Do I pay full rent while repairs take over my home?

Yes for short works, but no if they run long. Past 20 days you may pay less for the part you can't use. Who pays for the repairs themselves is covered in the article on who pays for repairs.

What if I block a repair my landlord has to do?

Unjustified refusal can breach your duties as a tenant. You may then be liable for any damage that results from the delay.

Does a sale of the flat change who can visit?

Not the entry rules: buyers still need your consent to come in. A sale can affect purchase rights under the tenancy law, so ask a tenant advice service before you agree to anything.