Property management in Valencia and Alicante: what it costs

A letting agent in Spain can either find you a tenant or run the whole tenancy for you. Tenant find is usually charged once, when the lease is signed; full management is usually a percentage of the rent collected each month. Either way, the landlord pays: Spanish law does not allow these fees to be passed on to the tenant. In Valencia and Alicante there is also a regional step, lodging the tenant's deposit with the Generalitat Valenciana within one month. This guide is written for owners who live outside Spain.

Tenant find or full management

With tenant find, the agent values the rent, prepares the listing, shows the property, vets applicants, drafts the lease, collects and lodges the deposit, then hands over the keys with a check-in inventory. From that day on, you collect the rent and handle everything else until the tenancy ends.

Full management covers all of that, then the day-to-day running of the tenancy until the tenant leaves: rent collection, arrears, repairs with local tradespeople, the annual rent review if the lease provides for one, monthly statements and the return of the deposit.

A Spanish residential lease runs for at least five years when the landlord is an individual and seven when the landlord is a company (article 9 of the Urban Leases Act, or LAU). If you live abroad, full management means someone in Spain answers the tenant and organises repairs, in Spanish and on the spot. Tenant find can be enough if you are often in Spain or have someone reliable nearby.

What happens at each stage

This is how the stages are split between the two Alveo Rent plans. If you are comparing agents, ask each one for the same breakdown in writing.

Stage	What the agent does	Tenant find	Full management
Preparation	Rent estimate, photos, listing and a check of the documents	Yes	Yes
Advertising and viewings	Listing on the portals, replies to enquiries, viewings at the property	Yes	Yes
Choosing the tenant	Identity, income and employment checks; you make the final choice	Yes	Yes
Lease and deposit	Lease compliant with the LAU, deposit collected and lodged with the Generalitat	Yes	Yes
Move-in	Check-in inventory with photos and key handover	Yes	Yes
Day to day	Rent collection, arrears, repairs and a monthly statement	No	Yes
Rent review and tax	Annual rent review and an annual summary for your tax return	No	Yes
Move-out	Check-out inventory, return of the deposit and re-letting	No	Yes

Repairs: a new 15-day deadline

The landlord pays for the repairs needed to keep the property habitable; the tenant pays for small repairs caused by ordinary wear and tear (article 21 of the LAU). Since 8 October 2026, Royal Decree-law 29/2026 has added a deadline. If the tenant asks for a repair in writing and attaches a reasonable quote, you have 15 calendar days to accept it, propose another repair or carry it out. If you do not reply, the tenant can have the work done and deduct the cost from future rent. From abroad, this only works if someone in Spain can answer within the deadline.

Annual rent review

The rent can only be reviewed if the lease provides for it, once a year, and the increase cannot exceed the change in the IRAV index published by the INE, Spain's national statistics institute (article 18 of the LAU). For reviews falling due between 8 October 2026 and 31 December 2027, the same decree-law caps the increase at 2% unless you agree a new figure with the tenant, and allows no increase at all if the rent is above the maximum value given by the state reference index (sixth final provision).

When the tenant leaves

At the end of the tenancy, both parties must sign a document recording the condition of the property. If none is signed, or if it notes no damage, the property is presumed to have been returned in good condition (article 36.7 of the LAU, added by Royal Decree-law 29/2026). A check-in inventory with photos is the reference you need to justify a deduction from the deposit. The balance must be returned to the tenant within one month of the keys being handed back; after that, it earns statutory interest (article 36.4).

What it costs

In the Spanish market, tenant find is usually charged as a fixed fee when the lease is signed, often equal to one month's rent. Full management is usually charged as a percentage of the rent, every month. The percentages, and what they cover, vary from one agent to another.

At Alveo Rent, tenant find costs one month's rent (excl. VAT), paid once when the lease is signed. Full management, which includes tenant find, costs 8% (excl. VAT) of the rent collected, with no minimum term and nothing to pay while the property is empty. Spanish VAT at 21% is added to both. You will find the details on our pricing page.

Flat let at €1,000 a month	Excl. VAT	Incl. VAT
Tenant find (paid once)	€1,000	€1,210
Full management (per month collected)	€80	€96.80
Full management (12 months collected)	€960	€1,161.60

The fees pay for the agent's work. The property's own costs stay with you, such as the energy performance certificate, which the owner must commission (article 6 of Royal Decree 390/2021), or necessary repairs (article 21 of the LAU). If you take out rent guarantee insurance, you pay for that too: the tenant can no longer be required to take it out (article 36.5 of the LAU, as amended by Royal Decree-law 29/2026).

On tax, rent from a Spanish property is declared in Spain on Form 210 (modelo 210). For rent falling due from October 2026, the return is filed once a year, from 1 to 20 April of the following year, according to the Spanish tax agency. Residents of the EU and the EEA pay 19% and can deduct their expenses, agency fees included (articles 24.6 and 25 of the Non-Residents' Income Tax Act, and article 13 of the IRPF regulations). Residents of the UK and other countries pay 24% on the gross rent, with no deductions under the current rules. This is general information: check your own situation with a tax adviser. Our article on modelo 210 for non-resident landlords explains the return in detail.

Who pays the agent

The landlord. The Housing Act (Law 12/2023) wrote this rule into article 20 of the LAU, with effect from 26 May 2023: property management and lease formalisation costs are payable by the landlord.

Royal Decree-law 29/2026, in force since 8 October 2026, goes further. These costs cannot be passed on to the tenant, directly or indirectly, under any name, and they cover any service for preparing, formalising, managing, amending or renewing the lease. A service that is not essential to the lease can only be charged to the tenant if the tenant asks for it in writing, after being told that it is optional and what it costs.

Valencia and Alicante: the regional rules

Both cities follow the rules of the Valencia region (Comunitat Valenciana), which change part of the agent's work.

As of 26 October 2026, the Valencia region has not declared any high-demand residential area (zona de mercado residencial tensionado). Royal Decree 851/2026, published in the BOE on 22 October 2026, lists the regions that have: the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, Asturias and Navarre. In Valencia and Alicante, the starting rent of a new lease is freely agreed, while the general limits on annual reviews still apply.

The deposit (fianza) is one month's rent (article 36 of the LAU), and the landlord must lodge it with the Generalitat Valenciana within one month of signing the lease: online (form 816, paid by card) or in cash at a partner bank (form 806). Late lodging carries a surcharge of 5% to 20% of the deposit, depending on the delay (article 22 of the Valencian Housing Act, Law 8/2004), and failing to lodge it is a serious offence (article 68). The Generalitat repays the deposit once the tenancy has ended, within one month of an online request. As you have to return the balance to the tenant within one month of getting the keys back, you may need to advance it.

One practical point for owners abroad: an online refund request needs a Spanish digital certificate (certificado electrónico). According to the Generalitat's instructions, the Cl@ve system cannot be used for this procedure. The alternative is a representative entered in the ACCV register of representatives. Agree with your agent who will request the refund before the deposit is lodged.

Valencian Law 8/2004 also requires a property to have an occupancy licence (licencia de ocupación) or a certificate of habitability (cédula de habitabilidad) before it is let, and the landlord must give that document to the tenant (articles 17 and 18). Have it ready, together with a registered energy performance certificate.

Managing from abroad: what to check in the agreement

• Term and exit: whether there is a minimum term, how much notice you must give, and what happens to the current lease if you change agent.
• Fee basis: whether the percentage applies to rent collected or rent agreed, whether VAT is included, and what you pay while the property is empty.
• Statements: how often the net rent is transferred, what each statement shows, and whether you receive an annual summary for your Form 210.
• Repairs: the amount above which the agent must ask for your approval, what happens in an emergency, and how quotes and invoices reach you. With the 15-day deadline, approvals cannot wait for your next trip.
• Deposit: who collects it, who lodges it and on which form, who keeps the receipt and who will request the refund. According to the Generalitat, that receipt also proves the deposit to the Spanish tax agency.
• Signing and language: whether you can sign the agency agreement and the lease remotely, and in which language the documents are explained to you.

You can check this list against our method, which sets out what we do at each stage and what we ask of you.

To find out what rent your property could achieve in Valencia or Alicante, start with our rental estimate.