How to rent apartment in Barcelona?

Many people that come to Barcelona for the first time and want to rent an apartment don’t know where to start from. Our goal is to inform you about the Barcelona’s rental market before you come here, so you can prepare yourself and find a place to live in an easy way. There are 2 ways of renting apartment in Barcelona, with an agency or directly from the owner.

Rental agencies

There are many rental agencies in Barcelona, and the pros of renting with them is that you can see more apartments at once, they usually speak your language, prepare the contract, take care of you in case you have issues in the apartment in a fast and professional approach, and they make sure that you get your security deposit back according to the contract terms. The cons is that it’s more expensive since the agencies charge between 1 month rent and 10% of the annual rent for their services.

Direct owners

It’s pretty easy to find rental adds from private owners in Barcelona on the internet. The pros are that you pay only the monthly rent + security deposit, but the most common problems are that owners are not willing to help when you need it, for example if you have a water leak, broken washing machine, etc, and you can have difficulties in getting back your security deposit.

General documents that you need in order to rent an apartment in Barcelona in both cases:

  • passport or ID
  • spanish bank account number
  • job contract and 3 last payslips from your job
  • school certificate if you’re a student
  • bank account statement
  • 1st month rent to be paid
  • security deposit to be paid (normally it’s equal to the 2 months rent, but it can be any amount you agree about)
  • service fee in case you rent with a rental agency (normally it’s equal to the 1 month rent)

The rental contracts are written in spanish. If you don’t speak it, it’s a good idea to have a friend that can help you go through the contract before you sign it or you hire a professional translator. If you work with a rental agency with good reputation, it shouldn’t be a problem since agencies use a standard rental contract form.

Our company’s advices:

  • If you are a group of people that plans to share an apartment, it is crucial to come all together to the 1st viewing. That way you can save your time and decide faster about the apartment.
  • Always check the apartment address before you go to the viewing. Some people don’t do it and they realise the apartment is too far from their school or job only when they already get there.