The Council of Ministers has just approved a royal decree regulating coverage to protect landlords against potential rent defaults, but only for contracts with young people and vulnerable individuals that are still active on January 30, 2025. The autonomous communities (CCAA) will be responsible for managing this aid, although the budget is still unknown.
This guarantee, which was recently presented, was already included in the draft of the new State Housing Plan 2026-2030, which the Government must approve in the coming weeks. The plan includes a line of guarantees to cover rent defaults, but only in very specific cases.
For landlords to access this public insurance, they must meet several requirements:
- Sign the rental contract with someone under 35 years of age or a vulnerable individual (as defined by each autonomous community).
- Not charge a rent above the national reference index.
- Deposit the legally required security deposit and keep it up to date.
- Sign the guarantee agreement with the tenant, using the template approved by the Administration.
In addition, the Autonomous Communities may add further conditions if they deem it necessary. The coverage is only valid for non-payment or damages related to contracts in effect as of January 30, 2025.
And what does the insurance cover? Basically, the following:
- Rent defaults
- Damages to the property
- Outstanding utility bills
Landlords who are up to date with their tax and social security payments, or communities that have contracted the insurance with the landlords, will be able to benefit from this measure.
For now, neither the budget nor the exact amount of this public guarantee is clear. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda will transfer the funds to the Autonomous Communities in the last quarter of the year, but only after they certify the non-payments covered. Furthermore, every six months, the communities will have to send the Ministry a report on how they have applied these coverages.
To qualify for this insurance, landlords must comply with the median rental prices set by the State System of Reference for Housing Rental Prices (SERPAVI), which was created by the Ministry of Housing itself.
And what does the sector think? Well, the Association of Rental Property Owners (ASVAL) is far from convinced. They insist that public policies should provide legal certainty and clear rules, and that it makes no sense to keep announcing measures that are neither implemented nor have a real impact. In fact, they point out that this public non-payment insurance has already been presented three times in 2025 alone. According to ASVAL, linking the guarantee to the SERPAVI limit is a mistake, because that index does not reflect the real market price. They say that where it is already in effect, the index is very disconnected from real prices, so it is not a useful reference for new policies.
Furthermore, they believe that this guarantee is not attractive to landlords outside of high-demand areas. They consider it unlikely that a landlord in a quiet town would lower the rent below the SERPAVI (National Housing Service) threshold just to access a guarantee that is still poorly defined and raises many questions. Alquiler Seguro (Safe Rent) hasn't minced words: according to them, the new system of public guarantees against rent defaults approved by the Council of Ministers doesn't work and leaves most landlords out. The company makes this clear in its statement: the guarantee doesn't cover those who rent to people over 35 who aren't considered vulnerable, nor does it cover contracts with rents exceeding the state reference index. And, frankly, that's almost everyone.
David Caraballo, CEO of Alquiler Seguro, sees it this way: the government has pushed through a measure that, while theoretically positive, ultimately proves useless due to its limitations. "Once again, the government is leaving landlords unprotected," he insists, calling the measure worthless. While evictions of vulnerable tenants are prohibited, he says, no public guarantee system is being implemented to provide real security for all landlords against non-payment.
The main problem, according to Caraballo, is that only landlords who rent below the state index can access the guarantee, when everyone knows that most contracts are above that price. Ultimately, this requirement excludes almost everyone who truly needs the help.
José Ramón Zurdo, a lawyer specializing in rentals and CEO of the Rental Negotiation Agency (ANA), also sees it clearly: any aid that increases the rental supply is welcome, but the measures approved now are so restrictive that they will hardly benefit anyone. Not only are they limited to tenants under 35 or vulnerable individuals, but they also only apply to landlords who have set the rent below the reference index. And this, except in high-demand areas, almost never happens because real market prices are much higher.
Zurdo sums it up bluntly: “These subsidies will reach very few people. Most landlords will be left out and, unable to wait or endure the wait to receive the aid, will end up selling their properties. Furthermore, the aid can only be requested when the property is vacant, and that's when the six-month wait begins, so it looks like it will be a long process.”
To top it all off, Zurdo believes it's quite likely this Royal Decree won't pass the Congress's Standing Committee, because left-wing parties like Sumar, Podemos, Bildu, and Esquerra Republicana will almost certainly vote against it.
For its part, the Ministry of Housing has announced that contracts still in effect on January 30, 2025, will be eligible for this measure. Even so, the government itself acknowledges that if there is universal protection for tenants against eviction, there should also be protection for landlords against non-payment of rent. "Forcing landlords to finance the government's social policies is irresponsible," concludes Alquiler Seguro.