Student accommodation
Security deposit
A security deposit (fianza) is the cash sum a tenant hands over when signing a lease in Spain to guarantee they will meet the contract. The Urban Leases Act makes it compulsory: one month's rent for a residential lease and two months' rent for a lease for other use (art. 36.1).
Also known asfianza · rental deposit · tenancy deposit · damage deposit
What the law says
Art. 36 of the LAU does not leave the deposit to the parties' choice: requiring it and providing it is compulsory when the contract is signed. It is not updated during the first five years, or seven if the landlord is a legal person; at each later extension it can go up or down until it matches one or two months of the rent then in force. The parties can also agree an additional guarantee, such as a bank guarantee, and the third additional provision lets each autonomous community require the landlord to lodge the deposit with a public body for as long as the contract lasts.
| Residential | Use other than housing | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash deposit (art. 36.1) | One month's rent | Two months' rent |
| Additional guarantee (art. 36.5) | Up to two months in contracts of up to five or seven years; up to one in temporary leases | Whatever is agreed |
Worth knowing
The way out is regulated too. The balance to be returned earns statutory interest if a month passes after the keys are handed back without it being repaid (art. 36.4), and under the wording in force since 8 October 2026 (Royal Decree-law 29/2026) the parties sign a document at the end recording the state of the home: if it is not signed or lists no damage, the home is presumed to have been returned in good condition (art. 36.7). That is why the room inventory and the check-out matter. And if what is signed is not a lease, such as the use of university housing assigned by its university (art. 5.d), the guarantee is whatever its rules or the contract set.
Sources
Related terms
- LAU: residential lease or lease for other useSpain's Urban Leases Act (LAU) separates the residential lease (art. 2), which meets the tenant's housing need —even when only one room is let—, from the lease for a use other than housing (art. 3), which is governed by what the parties agree. In a coliving, that choice decides the contract's whole regime.
- Place reservationA place reservation is the step by which someone admitted to a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) or a residence confirms they will take up their place the following year, often by signing the terms and paying an advance. Until then, the place can go to someone else.