Lease clauses to check or challenge before you sign

Key rules

• Term: A standard lease gives you the right to stay for 5 years, or 7 if the landlord is a company.
• Early exit: After 6 months you can leave with 30 days' written notice, and compensation is owed only if the lease says so.

Clauses that cut your rights are void

If the lease is for your habitual residence (your main home), any clause that reduces your rights or adds to your obligations beyond what the law sets is void. Signing it does not make it binding. This does not apply in the same way to seasonal lets or room rentals.

Still, a void clause can cause trouble if you rely on it being ignored. Ask the landlord to remove it before you sign.

Length, renewal and rent updates

If the contract is shorter than 5 years (7 if the landlord is a company), it renews by itself year by year unless you give 30 days' notice before the year ends.

After that term the lease renews year by year for up to 3 more years. To stop it renewing, the landlord must give 4 months' notice before the end; you must give 2 months'.

Rent can be updated once a year, on the anniversary of the lease, and by no more than the legal index (the IRAV, which replaced the CPI). If the lease says nothing about updates, the rent stays the same. A clause that sets a different or higher update is void.

Rooms and seasonal contracts

• Seasonal contract: A contract for a temporary stay, such as a work posting or a term of study, is not a habitual-residence lease. It has no automatic extension, no early-exit right and no rent-update rule: the contract decides. The temporary reason must be real and written into the contract, otherwise a court can treat it as a standard lease. The deposit is 2 months' rent, and the two-month cap on extra guarantees does not apply.
• Room in a shared flat: You normally rent under the agreement you sign, not the standard lease rules, so the minimum term, the automatic extension and the guarantee cap do not protect you by default. Get in writing the rent, the deposit (one month's rent), the notice either side must give, which bills are included, and that the owner allows the main tenant to sublet.

Leaving early

In the first 6 months you cannot leave unless the lease allows it or the landlord agrees. Any clause that takes away your right to leave after that, or your minimum term or extension rights, is void.

The lease may ask for compensation if you leave early, but only if it says so. The most it can ask is one month's rent for each year of the contract still to run, calculated by months for part-years. Without a compensation clause, you owe nothing.

Repairs

The landlord pays for repairs needed to keep the home habitable, and cannot raise your rent for them. The exception is damage you caused.

You pay for small repairs from everyday use, and the lease can set a different split for those. A clause that moves major or structural repairs onto you is generally void or abusive. Push back on it.

Tell the landlord promptly about any problem. You must allow urgent works. If you carry out an urgent repair yourself, you can reclaim the cost.

Other clauses to challenge

• Entry at will: A clause letting the landlord enter whenever they like breaches the inviolability of your home. Entry needs your consent.
• Right to buy: A clause waiving your preferential purchase right is generally challengeable. Leases over five years can lawfully include such a waiver.
• Fees charged to you: You cannot be charged agency or contract-drafting fees. Strike out any clause that does this.
• One-sided terms: If the landlord is a professional, clauses like unilateral changes or lopsided penalties can also be void as abusive.

How to negotiate

Mark each doubtful clause, then send the landlord or agent a short written list asking for changes. Quote the clause number and say what you want instead. If you are unsure, take the lease to a tenants' association or a lawyer before you sign.

Legal limits to test before you commit

• Rent cap. In a stressed zone (zona tensionada) a new contract is capped at the previous rent plus updates. Whether your street is in one depends on your region: check the regional housing department's list of declared zones and the Ministry of Housing's rent reference index, and ask the town hall.
• A clause the landlord refuses to fix. Renegotiate or go back to your shortlist. If you have already paid an unlawful fee, ask for a written refund, then complain to the town hall's consumer office (OMIC) or send a burofax. Keep receipts and the contract.