Renting long term here? The law is on your side.

Most Irish people who end up living on the Costa del Sol rent first. It is the sensible order to do things in, and the rules that govern it are not the ones you are used to at home.

Two of them will surprise you, and both work in your favour.

You should not be paying the agency fee

For years, renters on this coast were routinely charged a month's rent as a finder's fee. That changed on 26 May 2023, when Spain's housing law, Ley 12/2023, moved letting agency costs onto the landlord for long-term residential lets.

The tenant is not supposed to pay it. That is the law, not a negotiating position.

Enforcement in Andalucía has been patchy, and some agencies now present the same charge under a different name: an administrative fee, a tenant care fee, a contract-drafting fee. If you are asked for something like that on a residential let, it is fair to ask what exactly it covers and on what legal basis.

A Spanish lease binds the landlord, not you

This is the one Irish renters find hardest to believe. Under the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, a residential lease with a private landlord can be extended at the tenant's option up to five years, even where the contract says one year. Where the landlord is a company, it is seven.

You choose whether to extend. The landlord largely cannot refuse, outside a narrow set of legal exceptions.

You are not locked in for those five years yourself. You can leave once you have been there six months, giving thirty days' written notice. The contract may set a penalty for the remaining term, commonly one month's rent for each year left to run, so read that clause before you sign.

The practical effect is that a year in a rental is a low-risk way to work out whether you actually want to live somewhere. That is precisely why we suggest it.

The deposit, and what a landlord may ask on top

The fianza is one month's rent. It is set by law, it is not negotiable, and the landlord is required to lodge it with the regional housing authority rather than keep it in a drawer.

A landlord may ask for an additional guarantee beyond that, but it is capped at two months. So three months' rent in total is the legal ceiling, and anyone asking for more is outside the rules.

At the end, the deposit must come back within one month, less any deductions the landlord can actually evidence. Ordinary wear is not a deduction. Faded paint and a worn sofa are the landlord's cost of doing business, not yours.

What you will be asked for

Landlords here want much the same paperwork wherever you look:

• Your NIE. The Spanish foreigner's tax number. Most landlords will not sign without it, because they need it to declare the rent as income.
• Proof you can pay. Three recent payslips, or an employment contract. Self-employed and retired renters use accounts, tax returns or pension statements instead.
• Passport or national ID card.
• Bank statements. Often requested alongside the income proof, particularly for non-residents.

If you have no Spanish income history yet, expect some landlords to ask for a larger guarantee. That is common and it is within the three-month ceiling.

The NIE problem, and how people solve it

Here is the circle almost every Irish mover runs into. You want a rental before you move, but you need an NIE to sign the lease, and getting an NIE is easier once you are here.

It is solvable. You can apply through the Spanish consulate in Dublin before you travel, or apply in person once you arrive, and some landlords will hold a property on a signed reservation while your number comes through.

It is worth starting the NIE well before you need it. It is the single most common reason a move slips by a month.

A note on holiday lets

Everything above concerns long-term residential lets, which is what you want if you are moving here. Short-term and tourist lets sit under a separate licensing regime in Andalucía with its own registration requirements, and none of the tenant protections above apply in the same way.

If someone offers you a “long-term” arrangement on what is really a holiday-let contract, that is a meaningful difference and not a technicality.

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Related: why renting a year first makes you a better buyer and the honest maths on renting versus buying.