Obligatory registration rental properties Spain

Royal Decree 1312/2024, of December 23 , regulating the Single Lease Registry procedure and creating the One-Stop-Office (Real Decreto 1312/2024, de 23 de diciembre, por el que se regula el procedimiento de Registro Único de Arrendamientos y se crea la Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos)- Click here to see the law

General – Why and What for the New Law?

In recent times, we have been witnessing the intervention of the public administration and the government in housing regulation matters. These measures are justified by the administration in an increase in the prices of buying and selling houses, as well as rent, which makes it increasingly difficult for citizens with limited purchasing power to access housing.

The result of this is the various laws that have been published over the years, one of which, as a precedent, was Decree Law 7/2019, of March 1, which for the first time allows communities of owners to limit or condition the use of tourist housing in their communities. The latest of these, Law 12/2023, of May 24, which establishes a series of regulatory measures regarding the purchase and sale of housing, as well as rental, has meant a real change in the spectrum of both the purchase and sale of housing, as well as rental.

The legislative justification for this regulation falls within the interventionist line of the housing market by the Spanish Administration. In fact, this new law implements Regulation EU 2024/1028 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 on the collection and exchange of data relating to short-term accommodation rental services and amending Regulation EU 2018/1724.

These European regulations impose an obligation on Member States to adopt the necessary legal measures to create a single rental registry and a Digital One-Stop Office for rentals (Ventanilla Unica Digital).

In addition, they also impose the need to identify the owner and the place where such rental services are offered, as well as their duration.

What is the “One-Stop-Office”?

It is a point of communication, information and control of the central public administration with the different operators that operate in the rental accommodation market for use other than permanent housing, including owners, professionals and digital platforms.

In this way, the administration through this Office will collect the data of each and every one of the transactions carried out by the digital platforms, and will link and relation them to the users who own the registered properties, in order to provide precise and agile control of said transactions, which may be used by the administration to control them, and to supervise the activity for all purposes, both administrative, legal and fiscal.

As for the owners of the registrations, they will be obliged to inform and communicate to this office any type of alteration or modification that affects the development of the activity, such as: change of owner, renewal, cancellation or change of tourist license, increase in spaces for tenants, etc.

The One-Stop Office will be part of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, which will be responsible for coordinating the actions linked to the effectiveness of this regulation, and the Unique Registration Procedure (Procedimiento Único de Registro) , which will be carried out directly in the Property Registry. According to the text of the law, the fact that information relating to short-term accommodation rental services can be incorporated into the property registry will allow users to have the necessary information to make their decisions when proceeding with the rental of these.

Through this registration procedure, a Unique Registration Number (Número Único de Registro) will be obtained that will be assigned to each of the properties that are intended to be rented, without which the platforms will not allow the publication of these properties online .

This regulation aims to provide security to homeowners, online platforms, users and tenants, as it will create a market with transparent and reliable information, and will ensure that the rental activity, as well as the properties on which it is based, is carried out under adequate and guaranteeing conditions for all users of the same.

Inspection, control and sanctioning tasks will also be carried out on those activities that do not comply with the regulations, which will allow for greater control, security, and a filter for all those homes that do not comply with the law.

Law Content

Introduction

The new regulation requires that ALL properties in rental activity, which wish to be advertised or managed through digital platforms, such as AirBNB , Homeaway , etc. , must go through the registration procedure stipulated in the law.

Therefore, all those properties whose owners wish to rent for any type of rental other than permanent housing , whether under a license or tourist rental, for seasonal, students, workers, etc. and who use digital platforms for their promotion or management, must go through this registration process and obtain the “Unique Registration Number”, which will be required by digital companies as an essential requirement to accept the publication of the property on their marketing or management platforms.

This registration procedure, therefore, affects the following types of rental, which the same law calls “Short-Term Rental Service”:

What is meant by “Short-Term Accomodation Rental Service”?

Art. 1.- Defines the ” Short-term accommodation rental service”, which is understood as the rental for a short period of one or more units for tourist purposes, or non-tourist, in exchange for remuneration, whether on a professional or non-professional basis, on a regular or non-regular basis, being applicable to it the seasonal rental regulation of article 3.2 of law 29/1994, of November 24, on urban leases , as well as that resulting from the application of boat rentals subject to regulation EU 20 24/10 28 of the European Parliament, as well as that applicable to tourist leases established by the autonomous communities of local entities, and as well as when appropriate, that relating to the protection and defense of people, consumers and users.

• “Short-term” accommodation. Therefore, long-term or permanent rentals are expressly excluded of the obligation, but they can be registered
• “Accommodation”. Only properties that allow “accommodation” are considered. Therefore, offices, commercial premises, workshops, garages and storage rooms are excluded from this law.
• “One or more units”. This refers to any type of accommodation based on the rental of the entire property, or part of it, or rooms. Therefore, whenever the legislation allows this type of rental, the rental of rooms, or parts of the property, is permitted. It is important to remember here that rentals for use other than permanent housing (such as seasonal rentals, student rentals, etc. ), subject to the LAU (Urban Leasing Law), allow rental by rooms. However, some regional legislation does not always allow the rental of rooms for tourist rentals (such as the law of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencian Community, etc.).
• “In exchange for remuneration” – It is understood that there must be a real rental activity for which the tenant remunerates the owner with any type of compensation, whether in money, specie or any other type of compensation.

This regulation expressly excludes accommodation rental services that do not involve remuneration. Remuneration is understood to be any form of financial compensation, regardless of its value or the form it takes.

• “Professional or non-professional, on a regular or non-regular basis” – The professional or private nature of the activity carried out by the landlord is irrelevant. This regulation therefore applies to both private owners who sporadically or generally carry out this activity, as well as to professionals who engage in it temporarily or permanently.
• For all types of rentals other than permanent housing :
• Rental for any use of accommodation other than permanent housing . Therefore, this includes: Accommodation for tourist or holiday purposes (not subject to a tourist license), students, workers, etc.
• Tourist rental. This is understood as the rental that requires a tourist license from the corresponding autonomous community. In this case, the registration process will be twofold, since the owner of these homes, in addition to going through the regional registration process, must go through this new registration in order to be marketed on digital platforms.
• Boat rental with use of accommodation.
• Furnished: Article 2 of the Act states that for this Act to apply, accommodation must be rented “furnished”. This means that “unfurnished” flats or apartments will not be included in this regulation.

Excluded accommodations: The law expressly excludes of application:

– Hotels in similar accommodations, complexes, apart -hotels, and motels, or hostels, B&B, etc.

-Campsites and apartments for caravans.

Definition of Host or Landlord (Art. 3)

“Host” or “Landlord” means: A natural or legal person who provides or intends to provide a short-term accommodation rental service in exchange for remuneration through an online short-term rental platform, whether on a professional or non-professional basis, on a regular or non-regular basis.

What is considered by law as an “Online short-term rental platform”?

These are those that allow guests to enter into remote contracts with hosts for the provision of short-term accommodation rental services.

What services are covered by the law?

• Services provided by online platforms to hosts who provide short-term accommodation rental services in Spain, regardless of the place of establishment of said platforms.
• The accommodation rental services provided by hosts/landlords through these platforms .

What is the geographical scope of the law?

This rule will apply to the entire national territory.

Unique Registration Procedure – PROPERTY REGISTRY

The regulations establish that the way to obtain the “Unique Registration Number” will be in the Property Registry.

Online Service

This process will be carried out “Online”, for this , the user must be “subscribed ” to the Property Registry service, and will be accessed through the “Digital Certificate” of the user or his representative.

Therefore, the user must be registered as a subscriber in the property registry, and must have a digital certificate to formalize the registration process.

Data to be included in the Registration Process

• The personal data of the landlord and/or his representative
• Contact email
• Contact telephone number in Spain
• Cadastral data of the property
• Property Registry Data
• Maximum number of tenants
• If rented by rooms or entire unit
• If rented for tourist purposes
• In the event that the accommodation is developed under a “Tourist Rental” regime as it may be defined in the region in which the property is located, the details of the “Tourist License” that covers said rental must be indicated.

Highlights of the Single Registration Process

• Spanish Telephone: This is important information to take into account for all those owners or landlords of accommodation in Spain who are non residents of the Spanish territory. They must have not only a contact email, but also a telephone with a registered line in Spain.

We assume that the reason for having a number in Spain is to facilitate communications and notifications from the administration.

Obviously, this will mean that all those owners who reside outside of Spanish territory, who do not have a telephone line available in Spain and who may have problems with availability, and even with knowledge of the Spanish language, will have to have a representative in Spain for these purposes.

• Maximum number of tenants: This is another essential piece of information to take into account when processing the registration. It involves identifying the maximum number of places offered in the property, provided that these places comply with regulations. This implies legal and technical knowledge of the property that not all owners are able to identify.

We often encounter owners who identify accommodation units whcih do not comply with local, regional or national building regulations, or which  do not comply with sectoral regulations (such as those for tourist rentals).

Therefore, it is advisable to know the exact legal and construction conditions of the property before completing the registration process, in order to identify the habitable spaces that may be considered suitable for registration in this new process.

• Host/Landlord Responsibility: Upon completion of the registration process, the user or owner assumes responsibility for the veracity of the facts and data declared . Therefore, if the data declared is not true, the user may be held responsible for all types of liability arising from errors, lack of veracity or falsehood in the data declared.
• Authorizations and licenses: In line with the above, the procedure leaves it to the owner’s responsibility to have the licenses required for the use of the property in rental activities, and their validity (Tourist license, Certificate of Habitation, etc).

For this reason, the owner must be in continuous contact with the administration, through the One-Stop Office created, to inform the administration of any type of change or alteration that occurs in the development of the rental activity.

When does the law come into force?

The law came into force on January 2, 2025, meaning that it is already effective and the registration process is already activated. The law establishes a voluntary process until July 1, 2025, from which time it will become mandatory.

FAQ’s:

• Duration of thi registration? Renovation?

It seems once registered the registration number obained is definitive, but the owner/user has to communicate and to inform the registry about any event, modification or change on the activity which might create a change on the information provided for its registration. 

• I have already registered in my Autonomous Community as a Tourist Rental, do I have to register again according to these regulations?

Yes, you have to register in this new registry if you intend to advertise your rental on digital platforms.

If you do not use digital platforms for your rental service, you do not need to register.

• I want to advertise my property for permanent rental, do I have to register?

In your case, you do not need to register, because the law affects only seasonal or short-term rentals, and is not the case for permanent housing. But, the law establishes that you may be registered if you wished to (for example, for looking to long-term tenants in AirBNB, etc.).  In your case, the registration is not obligatory, but voluntary.

• I am going to rent a property with a temporary rental contract, which is not a tourist rental, but for vacation purposes, for example, for two months. Do I have to register?

If you want to rent through digital platforms, then you have to do it. This is the spirit of the law.

If you do not use digital platforms to develop your temporary rental activity, you do not need to register.

• I have a property that I rent out to students. Do I have to register?

As in the previous case, you will only have to register if you use digital platforms to advertise or manage your rental activity. Otherwise, it is not necessary.

• I rent my apartment unfurnished, do I need to register?

The rental must be furnished to fall within the scope of this law.

• I have a boat for rent, do I need to register?

If you do not offer accommodation, or do so not in a temporary basis, you do not need to register. You only need to register when you rent the boat:

• With temporary accommodation
• Using digital platforms for marketing or management.

• What other requirements do I need to carry out the temporary rental activity?

Carrying out a temporary rental activity requires guaranteeing the tenant that the property complies with all types of regulations regarding habitability, health, safety, and hygiene. That is why you will have to have all the administrative authorizations to carry out the rental activity for residential use, such as an occupancy license-certificate of habitation, energy certificate, insurance that covers this activity, etc.

• I rent a garage, do I need to register?

If the garage is not linked to a dwelling with accommodation, then you do not need to register.

• Do I have to declare my rental activity for tax purposes?

Any type of rental-related activity generates taxes that must be declared in Spain, as the property is located in Spain. Therefore, we recommend that you seek expert advice on this matter.