Renting a home is becoming more and more expensive in many areas of Spain. An example is the prices in large cities like Madrid or Barcelona, which have risen by 10.9% and 16.1% respectively in the last year, according to data. from the Idealista real estate portal. Added to this cost is another concern when entering an apartment: that the rent is not higher than the maximum percentage of the salary that the tenant can invest, so it is important to know this limit.
Arantxa Goenaga, lawyer at the Círculo Legal Barcelona firm, explains that it has always been considered that the ideal is for the cohabitation unit to allocate 30% of the salary to rent. This percentage had not been defined until the Law for the Right to Housing was definitively approved in 2023, and is also applied by both financial entities to grant a mortgage loan and non-payment insurance.
Apartment for rent in Barcelona
Despite having defined an appropriate percentage, according to David Gordo, Housfy’s real estate expert, there is no legal limit, so the owner and tenant can agree on a price that exceeds the recommended limit, which for Gordo is a maximum of 40%. of the incomes. However, it warns that it may happen that the landlord wants to ensure the collection of the rent and contract non-payment insurance in which it is required that the rental price cannot exceed a specific percentage of the tenant’s income.
The tenant is not obliged to update their financial data”
However, “once a lease is formalized, the only financial obligation that the tenant has is to pay the rent; he has no obligation to update his financial data and send it to the owner ”, they assure from Housfy. But they can be required.
Goenaga recalls that in the event that the landlord has non-payment insurance, insurers may request new documentation to update the tenant’s financial data. And if it turns out that the rent exceeds the recommended income limit, the situation could arise that the insurer would not want to continue insuring the landlord because the criteria were not met, but nevertheless the owner would not be able to terminate the contract with the tenant due to the lack of in him this situation.
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“As long as the tenant continues to pay the rent, the contract cannot be terminated and they will be kicked out, but if they do not meet the limit [porcentaje de ingresos que pueden destinarse a vivienda], in the end you will not be able to pay and it will be cause for resolution, ”says Goenaga. As for people who want to rent an apartment and cannot afford it with their salary, but have enough savings to do so, he comments that they usually charge the entire annuity in advance or request another type of guarantee such as a guarantee to be able to answer for it. the pay.
Access to housing
Limiting prices in stressed areas: an insufficient measure
“Rental prices are increasing more and more because there is greater demand than supply. And the current regulations are not helping to make it possible to access normally, quite the contrary ”, denounces Goenaga. It also regrets that the measure of declaring stressed areas – and, with it, limiting the price of rents – when the average cost of rent exceeds 30% of the average household income has not improved the situation, but has caused many homes leave the market or other formulas are sought such as seasonal rental, shared rental or room rental.
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