In the Region of Madrid the landlord has 30 days from signing the lease to lodge the deposit with the Social Housing Agency. Here is how to do it online, which surcharges apply if you are late, when the bulk scheme pays off and how to get the money back with form 254.
From the day after signing or the lease start date, under the general scheme.
One for a main home; two for other uses, which include seasonal lets.
2% after the deadline and 5% if more than a year has passed.
From the end of the lease. After that, the right expires.
Spain's Urban Leases Act requires a cash deposit when the lease is signed (art. 36 LAU) and lets each region require that money to be lodged with the authorities until the lease ends (third additional provision). The Region of Madrid has done so for decades: the lodging scheme is in Decree 181/1996 of 5 December and inspections and penalties in Act 12/1997 of 4 June.
The body that holds the money is the Social Housing Agency (Agencia de Vivienda Social), with offices at Calle Basílica 23, by appointment. According to its website, lodging is compulsory for the landlord and free: there is no fee, but no interest is paid to you either.
Landlords and sub-landlords of urban property must lodge, as must those leasing a business that includes the use of premises, and utility companies. It covers residential leases, other-use leases (shops, offices, seasonal lets) and sublets. The Agency itself clarifies that a parking space rented on its own, not linked to a home, does not need to be lodged.
The amount is one month's rent for a main home and two for other uses, excluding VAT and withholdings. Watch out with seasonal lets: in Madrid they count as other use, so the deposit to lodge is two months.
Decree 181/1996 sets a deadline of thirty days from the day after the lease is signed (or from its start date, according to the Agency's website). Another section of the same website speaks of «30 working days from signing». As the two readings differ, the prudent approach for a firm with many leases is to count calendar days and lodge within the first three weeks.
The online self-assessment procedure is the one the Agency recommends. Companies must use the electronic route.
Lease, party and property details. The cadastral reference is compulsory; if you do not have it, it is on the Cadastre website or the IBI property tax bill.
Online by credit or debit card, by direct debit if your account is with Banco Santander, or by printing the form and paying at one of that bank's branches.
The receipt number starts with 251. You will need it to update, offset or claim the refund. There is no need to send proof of payment to the Agency.
The tenant can ask the Agency to certify the deposit, for example for a rent tax credit. Having the receipt at hand avoids phone calls.
Madrid allows something not every region does: if the property is let again, there is no need to claim the refund and lodge again. An offset using form 252 with the new lease details is enough, paying only the difference. The same form is used to update the deposit when the rent changes or five years pass (seven if the landlord is a company).
If the flat is sold with the tenant in place or the landlord dies, the deposit has to be transferred to the buyer or the heirs through a change-of-holder request. It is easily forgotten and later blocks the refund.
When the lease ends, the landlord claims the refund with form 254, online and with or without electronic ID, although filing it through the official register is required to complete the process. The right to recover the deposit expires after five years from the end of the lease. Old deposits lodged with «papel fianza» stamps before 1997 are handled at the Agency's offices.
Do not confuse the two deadlines: you have one month from the return of the keys to refund the tenant; otherwise statutory interest accrues (art. 36.4 LAU). That month does not depend on when the Agency refunds you.
If you manage many homes for the same landlord, the bulk scheme changes how deposits are lodged.
| Aspect | General scheme | Bulk scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Any landlord | Landlords with 5 or more leases whose deposits add up to €6,000 or more (optional); utility companies (compulsory) |
| How much is lodged | 100% of each deposit | 90% of the declared deposits |
| When | Lease by lease, within 30 days | Payment within 15 days of approval and an annual self-assessment in January and February (form 256) |
| Refunds | Form 254 per lease | Settled in the annual return; no partial refunds before then |
Source: Social Housing Agency, «Fianzas de arrendamiento». If an unlodged deposit joins the bulk scheme after the 30 working days, the same 2% or 5% surcharge applies.
Lodging late on your own initiative costs a 2% surcharge on the deposit, or 5% if more than a year has passed since the lease. If an inspection uncovers it, Act 12/1997 treats failing to lodge, or not asking for the full deposit, as a serious offence, fined at 26% to 50% of the unlodged deposit (art. 9.1.a). If the landlord accepts the inspector's proposed settlement, it becomes a minor offence fined at 5% to 25%. The Agency's website sums up that the penalty can reach €90,000.
You lodge the deposit with the Social Housing Agency yourself; FixrOS does not file it for you. What it does is make sure none slips through: the Portfolio module records each lease's deposit, counts down the days since signing, stores the receipt number and alerts you when the rent changes and an update with form 252 is due.
Thirty days from the day after the lease is signed, under Decree 181/1996. The Social Housing Agency's website also mentions 30 working days; the prudent course is not to wait until the last day.
With the Social Housing Agency, using its online self-assessment form. You pay by card, by debit from a Banco Santander account or at one of that bank's branches with the printed form.
If you do it yourself, a 2% surcharge on the deposit, or 5% if more than a year has passed. If an inspection finds it, it is a serious offence fined at 26% to 50% of the unlodged deposit.
The landlord claims it with form 254 once the lease has ended and must file it through the register. There are five years from the end of the lease; after that, the right expires.
Yes. The Agency treats it as other use, so the deposit is two months' rent and is lodged just like a shop's.
No. The landlord or their manager files it with the Agency. FixrOS records each deposit, its deadline and receipt, and alerts you to updates and refunds so none is missed.
Information checked on 18 October 2026 against the official website of the Social Housing Agency (Region of Madrid), Decree 181/1996, Act 12/1997 and the Urban Leases Act (art. 36 and third additional provision). It is not a substitute for professional advice.
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