Housing has become, on its own merits, the main problem for Spaniards during 2025, according to the CIS. The rise in prices, much higher than the revaluation of salaries, and the shortage of supply strangle access to and payment for a house. But the concern goes further, since everything related to housing generates high conflict between buyers, sellers, tenants, landlords and, of course, neighbors. During this year, rent has been one of the issues that has given the most work to law firms, which coincide in highlighting the management of deposits. At the Vilches Abogados law firm they say they have answered “many queries”, both from landlords and tenants. «We notice a great lack of knowledge on the part of the owners about what expenses they can charge to the deposit. Many believe that they can deduct the general cleaning or painting of the property at the end of the contract and we always clarify to them that, legally, only the amount of damage caused by misuse, acts of vandalism or theft can be deducted from the deposit, not ordinary wear and tear,» comments Manuel Vilches, CEO of the law firm. According to KLJ lawyers, “we are also encountering this case when the tenants are foreigners and request the termination of the contract due to having to leave Spain for studies or work, with the landlords taking advantage of the amounts of the deposit and additional guarantee, under the erroneous premise that they are not going to claim them.” However, with the entry into force this year of mandatory extrajudicial mechanisms before filing a lawsuit (Adequate Means of Dispute Resolution) it has been possible to reach an agreement with many landlords, avoiding «the judicialization of the controversy,» they say in this Madrid office. The eviction demands for the termination of the rental have followed a different path, that is, not for non-payment of rent, but because the contract and the extensions have expired and the tenant does not abandon the house. “Prices are so expensive that there are many tenants who cannot find an alternative and prefer to stay in their current home despite the contract having expired,” says Eduardo Fernández-Fígares, from the Lawyers for All firm. The lawyer explains that in this way they will only have to bear the costs of the owner’s lawyer, around 2,000 euros. «It is worth it for them to assume that expense, but to be able to stay one more year, which takes approximately a process of this type.» The problem worsens when that home ends up being the object of an inheritance, something very common in 2025. If there is a rental contract in force, there is only one eviction lawsuit to recover possession and unblock the sale to proceed with the termination of the condominium. On the other hand, if the contract is no longer valid, compensation must be negotiated with the tenant. For Fernández-Fígares, the highlight of the year in the chapter of tenant evictions has been the turnaround of the judges. “They are increasingly stricter on the issue of vulnerability.” He explains: «They are much more demanding. Not to open the vulnerability incident, which they open, but to agree with the tenant. So now only 25% or 30% of the cases are suspended.» In the last quarter of the year there has been a surge in queries about who pays the garbage rate. “Legally, the owner has to pay it, but since it is a tax inherent to the use of the home, the regulations allow the expense to be passed on, as long as it is set out in the contract,” they say in KLJ Abogados. This law firm says that this year the problem with real estate agency fees has continued, both in rentals and in sales. In this field, that of buying and selling, conflict over the deposit contracts signed by the buyer and seller to reserve the house has skyrocketed. “They don’t stop coming,” says Vilches. «In the most recent case, the selling party retracted at the last minute. We prepared a notarial document and have filed a lawsuit to claim double the penitential deposit, a fairly high amount.» Now it seems to be the seller who resolves the most and returns the compensation, something that the buyer used to do. Find a higher bidder: “With the price increase you can cover that expense and even increase the profitability of the sale,” they say in KLJ.
Serious hidden vices
Everything is sold, everything is bought. And it is done with almost no time to think given the high demand. This is dangerous. “In recent months, we are receiving an increasing number of clients who, after purchasing a second-hand home, find hidden defects,” says Manuel Vilches. These are serious pre-existing defects that were not visible at the time of sale. The main one is humidity (and mold), which they try to hide with furniture. In the office they tell the bleeding case of a woman who also suffered from a respiratory illness. «We are not asking for a price reduction, we are asking for the reversal of the sale. When what is delivered does not correspond at all to what was sold and people’s health is at stake, there is no possible negotiation to repair the damage,» says the lawyer Vilches, who confesses that this type of situation is no longer exceptional: «New clients arrive every week with similar stories.» The promoters are not spared. A recurring theme in 2025 has been the delivery of buildings with construction defects. “The cases of owners who complain about the state in which the homes or common areas, the plots, the swimming pool, the paddle tennis court and the garages are given to them have increased significantly,” says Luis Miguel Fernández, managing partner of Aestimatio Abogados. There have also been abundant queries related to the liquidation of community partnerships, especially in separations or divorces involving real estate assets. One of the spouses blocks the sale of the common property, generating situations of serious property damage. Vilches narrates one of their lawsuits: “More than two years after the divorce, one of the ex-spouses continued to occupy the community home without compensating the other, which forced them to go to court to set compensation and force the liquidation of the property.” Neighboring communities, a nest of conflicts, could not be missing from this count. The noise is a classic. “As there is less and less relationship between neighbors, noise is made and the feeling of the community as a community where you cannot disturb is not taken into account,” says Carmela Lavandeira, property manager in A Coruña. Lavandeira says that this year the main problems have had to do with the charging of electric vehicles and subsidies from European Next Generation funds: “There are numerous owners who have seen that they have carried out works entitled to subsidies in other buildings and want to do the same, when the deadlines have already expired.” The The robberies have been a headache. «Your hands may fall to pieces from the person who stole four flower pots from the door of my house. May they serve you for your dead.» Also illegal activities. «In the building we are reaching festival-like levels of reefer smell. Yesterday I passed by the landing and I’m almost sure the plants asked me for a light…» Noise has also crept into the top this year. “The owner of the home who has installed a cuckoo clock is asked to please silence it at night to allow the rest of the neighbors to descend.” Another: «The neighbors of 7 are asked to please respect the community’s nightly rest. We are working people who need to rest at night and not have the obligation to listen to sexual practices at 4 in the morning. The neighbor in question responds: «I wish it had been in 7. I advise you to urgently go to the ENT doctor.»
