- Legal minimum deposit: 1 month’s rent (LAU Article 36), frozen at that level for 5 years with an individual landlord (7 with a corporate one).
- Legal cap on extra guarantees: landlords can ask for supplementary guarantees on top of the deposit, but combined these legally can’t exceed 2 additional months’ rent for standard residential leases. ⚠ In practice, many landlords — especially with foreign tenants lacking Spanish payslips or credit history — informally ask for more upfront than this cap allows. Know your rights here; it’s a common friction point.
- Contract length: residential leases default to a 5-year minimum term if you want to stay that long (7 years with a corporate landlord), regardless of what the written initial term says (commonly 1 year) — you generally have the right to extend annually up to that ceiling.
- Ask for proof the landlord has lodged your deposit with the regional housing authority (IVIMA in Madrid, for instance) — a landlord who just pockets it is breaking the law and it complicates disputes later.
⚠ You can sign a lease with just a passport, before your NIE — but you’ll need the signed lease for empadronamiento.