The «Registro Único de Arrendamientos» and the «Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos»

13 January, 2025
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Real Estate
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Amaia Forcada


#### The obligations imposed by RD 1312/2024 on landlords and online platforms for short-term rentals

On December 24, 2024, Royal Decree 1312/2024, of December 23, regulating the «Registro Único de Arrendamientos» and creating the «Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos» for the collection and exchange of data related to short-term accommodation rental services, was published in the BOE.

This regulation came into effect on January 2, 2025, but its provisions will not apply until July 1, 2025. The delay provides sufficient time for all parties involved to make the necessary technological and operational adjustments.

To what services does this apply?

Royal Decree 1312/2024 applies nationwide and exclusively to short-term rentals, affecting:

Services provided to short-term rental hosts by online platforms, regardless of where their establishments are located (e.g., Booking or Airbnb).

Short-term rental services provided by hosts through online platforms.

What is considered a short-term rental?

The decree defines short-term rental as the rental agreement of one or more units for a short period, whether for tourism or other purposes, in exchange for remuneration, conducted either professionally or non-professionally, regularly or irregularly.

This means that not only tourist rentals are affected, but also seasonal rentals for work, academic, medical, or other temporary purposes.

The rental may cover the entirety of a property or part of it (e.g., a room). It also includes vessels, boats, or maritime structures, as long as the accommodation is not tied to services enabling navigation.

These rentals must meet the following conditions:

The primary purpose must be different from residential leasing, stemming from temporary causes (e.g., vacation, tourism, work, study, medical treatment).

The unit must have adequate equipment, furnishings, and utilities for temporary use.

Excluded from the decree are accommodation services provided without remuneration (defined as any form of economic compensation, regardless of value or form) and rentals of hotels, similar establishments, hostels, campsites, and caravan parks.

What is the main purpose of this regulation?

To create the «Ventanilla Única Digital» for collecting and exchanging data on short-term rental services. It will depend on the Spanish Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda.

To develop the procedure for the «Registro Único de Arrendamientos», which will be managed by the Property Registry for real estate and the Movable Property Registry for vessels, boats, or maritime structures.

What is the «Ventanilla Única Digital», and what are its functions?

This is a national digital gateway for the electronic transmission of data between online platforms offering short-term rentals and the competent authorities. It will also provide information on various uses, regulations, and purposes of temporarily rented units.

Every month, the «Ventanilla Única Digital» will transmit data to the National Institute of Statistics, regional statistics institutes (e.g., Idescat in Catalonia), and Eurostat. These data will include the activity and registration number of each unit, its municipality, and the maximum number of people it can accommodate.

What obligations do landlords have?

Before offering short-term rentals via online platforms, landlords must obtain a unique registration number from the Property Registry or Movable Property Registry (depending on the unit’s nature—real estate or maritime structure), which will have to be issued automatically and immediately once the required information is provided.

Additionally, landlords must respond to information requests from the authorities; update information about registered units if there are changes; and provide online platforms with the unique registration number to list the units for rent.

Among the information requirements, it is worth highlighting the communication that landlords must make annually, by providing an informative model for short-term rentals for each category and type of rental, which will include an anonymised list of the rentals carried out, as well as the identification of the purposes that have justified them (tourism, medical, etc.). It should be noted that if the registrar doubts the reality of the purposes communicated, he may request additional supporting documentation from the landlords.

What obligations do online platforms have?

Online platforms are required to:

Include functionalities in their applications for landlords to identify their units with the corresponding registration numbers.

Ensure that landlords provide the unique registration numbers and display them in advertisements.

Conduct random and periodic checks of landlords’ declarations, consulting the «Ventanilla Única Digital» when necessary, and report findings to it, as well as to landlords.

Inform landlords about the application of the «Registro Único de Arrendamientos».

Collect and transmit monthly activity data for each unit to the «Ventanilla Única Digital», including the registration number, specific address, and advertisement URLs.

Comply within 48 hours with administrative orders to remove or disable access to ads linked to suspended or revoked registration numbers.

How is the unique registration number obtained?

The landlord must submit the request through the electronic headquarters of the Spanish Association of Property and Commercial Registrars, attaching all required documentation in electronic format.

Among other documents, and whenever applicable, it will be necessary to provide the enabling title to rent a certain unit temporarily, whether it be an authorization, license, visa, prior communication or equivalent in accordance with current regulations. In addition, in the case of real estate, the Property Registry must verify that there is no resolution that prevents renting said unit temporarily, as may occur in the case of prohibitions or limitations on temporary rentals approved by the community of owners of the building where it is located.

However, the possibility of making the application in paper form by submitting it directly to the Property Registry or to the competent Registry of Movable Property remains open, depending on the nature of the unit to be rented.

With this procedure, a unique registration number will be automatically and immediately obtained for each property or partial unit thereof that is to be rented independently, without prejudice to the subsequent qualification carried out by the registrar.

When a property or part of it is intended for various types of temporary rental, it will have a unique registration number for non-tourist short-term rentals, and another number for tourist rentals.

In any case, the absence of a unique registration code will make it impossible to offer short-term rental services on online platforms.

Once the favourable rating of the registrar is obtained, he or she will proceed to note the registration number together with its category and type by means of a marginal note in the corresponding folio of the property to be rented, and will notify the interested party.

Please note that there is the possibility of correcting the documentation submitted within a period of 7 working days from the notification of the negative resolution. However, if it is not corrected within the deadline, the registrar will suspend the validity of the affected registration number and will communicate it to the «Ventanilla Única Digital». This will allow the Planning and Evaluation Directorate, which is part of the Spanish Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, to issue a resolution so that online platforms can immediately remove or disable the advertisements linked to this unique registration number.

This is intended to prevent housing from being offered under conditions contrary to those established by the applicable regulations, so that the administrations can carry out their inspection and control tasks more efficiently.

May the unique registration number be revoked?

The answer is affirmative, provided that the requirements for access to the Property Registry or the Registry of Movable Property are not met, or due to communication of the deregistration by the landlord.

This will determine the cancellation of the marginal note in the Registry where the unit is located and its notification to the interested party, as well as the communication to the «Ventanilla Única Digital» and the issuance of a resolution by the General Directorate of Planning and Evaluation ordering the elimination or disabling of access to advertisements linked to the withdrawn registration number.

Likewise, if the registrar verifies through the information requests that the registration number has been used for rental purposes other than those reported by the landlords, he may also withdraw the unique registration number.

Does RD 1312/2024 have implications for long-term leases?

Although the regulation does not apply to long-term rentals, the second additional provision allows landlords to voluntarily request a unique registration number for long-term rentals.

However, once this number is obtained, landlords will be required to submit annual data reports as requested by the Spanish Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, using the approved form.

At MES Advocats, we offer comprehensive legal advice, support, representation, and defense in all types of rentals, including seasonal ones, for both landlords and tenants. If you need more information or are interested in a quote, you can contact our real estate law department through this link.

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