Landlords will only be able to demand 2 months´ rent in advance and a deposit

The advance payment of rents can not exceed two months, according to a proposal of the Left Bloc approved on Thursday in Parliament, and aims to combat "abuses of guarantees" that are currently requested by landlords to tenants when signing a new lease.

The initial version of the proposed amendment to the State Budget for 2023 (OE2023) presented by BE limited that advance to one month and security deposit, but the Bloc eventually accepted the suggestion of the PS to increase to two months.

The approved text thus provides that the payment of the rent may be anticipated, with written agreement, for a period not exceeding two months, and the parties may pledge, "by any of the ways provided by law, compliance with the respective obligations, up to the value corresponding to two rents".

The BE justifies this proposal with the need to curb abuse in the guarantees that are requested by landlords to tenants in order to move forward with the lease agreement, mentioning that it is common to hear reports of the demand for a year´s rent in advance, a situation which, the party warns, "is illegal".

"The amount demanded in advance rents and deposit makes it impossible for many people to access the lease and is a disproportionate demand that urgently needs to be corrected, limiting the amounts that can be requested to guarantee the execution of a lease contract".