How Much It Costs to Move Out in Spain: What You Pay Day One and What You Pay Every Month

You search for how much it costs to move out and find ranges that don’t match each other: one blog says 900 euros a month is fine, another talks about 1,800, a forum thread tells its own particular story as if it were the rule. None of the figures quite fits, because they’re actually mixing up two different questions.

One is how much you need saved before you sign: the deposit, the first month, connecting the utilities, the bare minimum of furniture if the flat is empty. The other is how much it’ll cost you every month from then on: rent, utilities, food, transport, insurance. Two questions, two answers, and hardly anyone separates them. Here are both, one at a time, with the numbers of Irene, who is moving into a flat on her own for €850 a month. (Irene is made up; the numbers are round so you can follow the maths. Yours depend on your city and your flat.)

The day-one outlay

Before you get the keys, there’s a block of costs you pay in one go and that doesn’t come round again (unless you move again):

• The deposit (fianza). It’s compulsory in every residential tenancy and equals one month’s rent.¹ You get it back when the contract ends, minus any damage, but until then it’s money you don’t have.
• The additional guarantee, if the landlord asks for one. On top of the deposit, the contract can ask for another guarantee: a bank guarantee or an extra cash deposit. In a residential contract of up to five years (seven if the landlord is a company) it can’t exceed two months’ rent.² Ask about it before you fall in love with a flat.
• The first month’s rent, in advance.
• Connecting the utilities: electricity, water, gas if there is any, internet. Some companies charge to activate the service; others don’t, but take a while to bill you the first time, so your first bill comes in double.
• The bare minimum to live, if the flat is unfurnished: a bed, some kitchen basics, the essentials. It’s the most variable item: it can be zero if you inherit family furniture or several thousand if you start from scratch.
• The letting agency’s fee isn’t yours to pay. Since the 2023 Housing Law, property management and contract formalisation costs fall on the landlord, and the law now expressly forbids passing them on to you, directly or indirectly.³ If you’re asked for it, it isn’t custom: it’s a charge the law doesn’t allow.

Irene, on signing day. Deposit, €850. The landlord asks for one month as an additional guarantee: another €850. First month: €850. Connections and the first double bill for electricity and internet, say €150. And since the flat is empty, a bed, a second-hand sofa and the kitchen basics: €1,200. Total: €3,900, before she sleeps there the first night. That’s almost five times the rent.

That’s why so many people put off the move even when their salary would already cover the rent month to month: the problem isn’t the monthly cost, it’s getting that initial block together. If you’re saving for it, it’s worth keeping it in a separate account, as explained in the account you don’t touch.

What changed on 8 October 2026 (and may change again)

Royal Decree-law 29/2026, in force since 8 October, adds two things that affect you as a tenant: the landlord can’t require you to take out rent-default insurance,⁴ and can’t charge you the property’s taxes, such as IBI (the local property tax).⁵ A royal decree-law has to be ratified by Congress within thirty days, and the previous one with these same measures (26/2026) was repealed on 2 October. If you’re reading this later, check whether it’s still in force before counting on it.

The fixed monthly cost

Once you’re in, the calculation changes nature: it stops being a one-off hit and becomes a figure that repeats. This is where most people go wrong, because almost everyone calculates only with the obvious (rent, electricity, food) and forgets what doesn’t happen every month but does happen every year:

• Rent.
• Utilities: electricity, water, gas, internet, mobile.
• Food and cleaning products.
• Transport, whether a travel pass or a car.
• Building community fees, if the contract passes them on to you. For that to be valid, the agreement has to be in writing with its annual amount.⁵
• Home insurance, if you have it or the contract asks for it. It’s paid once a year, but it counts every month if you divide it by twelve.
• What comes once a year: December presents, car insurance, holidays, whatever check-up is due.

Irene, every month. Rent, €850. Electricity, water and internet, €110. Mobile, €15. Food and cleaning, €250. Travel pass, €40. Home insurance, €120 a year: €10 a month. And what comes once a year (presents, a weekend away, a reasonable surprise), say €1,200 a year: €100 a month. Total: €1,375 a month, of which €110 is spending she won’t see coming if she only looks at the current month.

That last line is what turns a rough budget into a real one. It’s the same problem we covered with recurring household expenses: what doesn’t happen every month slips our mind when we mentally add up what we spend, even though it’s as certain as the rent. If you’re moving in with your partner, it’s worth deciding from the start how you’ll manage your finances as a couple, so you don’t rebuild the split every time a new expense appears.

What the official data says (and why it isn’t your number either)

There’s a public reference that measures this: the Observatorio de Emancipación of the Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de España), which publishes its data every six months. According to its 2025 report, published in May 2026, a young salaried worker would have to spend 98.7% of their net salary to rent a home alone, and 33.6% to share a flat. Both are above the 30% usually used as the limit of an affordable effort.

That figure is useful for one specific thing: knowing how uphill your region is compared with the national average. It’s no use for working out your budget, because it’s an average over average salaries, not your salary or your flat. For that you need the exercise in the next section.

The question almost nobody asks: can you last twelve months?

Nearly everything written about moving out stops at month one: how much you need to get in. Very little asks what happens in month seven, when the car insurance arrives, or at the one-year mark, when the contract can update the rent if you agreed to that.⁶

Before you sign, build a budget for a full year, not for any old month: the monthly cost times twelve, with the once-a-year costs already in, and compare it with what you earn in the year, not with your pay slip from a good month.

Irene, over twelve months. Her €1,375 a month comes to €16,500 a year. She earns €1,700 net in fourteen payments (Spain’s usual twelve plus two extra): €23,800 a year. That leaves her €7,300 of margin, about €600 a month. She can sign. But with €3,900 upfront, if she only has €4,000 saved she starts the year with almost no cushion: the first big surprise catches her without a safety net. She’d do well to save for a few more months before signing.

If the result leaves room, you can sign with peace of mind. If it’s very tight, better to know before you pay the deposit than halfway through the contract. And the cushion you have left after the upfront costs is your emergency fund, which is worked out the same way: with your real fixed costs for the year, irregular ones included.

How much of your salary should go on rent

The most common rule of thumb is that rent shouldn’t exceed 30% of your net income, the same threshold used to measure effort in the youth emancipation data. It’s a useful guide, not a law of physics. If the rest of your fixed costs are low (no car, mobile shared on a family plan), you can afford a bit more; if you have other commitments, it’s worth staying below. Irene, with €850 out of an average €1,983 a month (her €23,800 divided by twelve), is at 43%: it works because of the margin the rest of her budget leaves, not because of the percentage. The number that matters is the twelve-month budget, not a percentage on its own.

How Cuéntamo helps

The day-one outlay and the monthly cost are two different calculations, and Cuéntamo is designed so you don’t have to keep them in your head or in a separate spreadsheet. Each fixed cost of your new life (rent, utilities, the home insurance paid once a year) is entered once as a recurring item, and from then on it shows up in your balance forecast in the right month, including the ones that only happen once a year.

That’s exactly what answers the “can I last twelve months?” question: instead of projecting a year by hand, you see your forecast balance month by month with all the recurring items already in, and if any month dips into the red you know in advance, not after it’s happened. If you want a simple system so the money for each thing doesn’t get mixed up, the three-account system (fixed costs, variable spending and savings) fits a first flat well.

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need saved before moving out?

At the very least, the deposit (one month), the first month’s rent and connecting the utilities: more than two months’ rent. If the landlord asks for an additional guarantee (up to two more months) or the flat is unfurnished, the figure goes up. In Irene’s example, with €850 rent, it came to €3,900.

What’s a reasonable fixed monthly cost to live alone?

It depends on your city and salary. The usual rule of thumb is that rent shouldn’t exceed 30% of your net income, but the reliable calculation is your real twelve-month budget with irregular costs (insurance, presents, surprises) already included.

What is the additional rental guarantee and how much can it be?

It’s a guarantee the landlord can ask for on top of the deposit: a bank guarantee or an extra deposit. It isn’t compulsory, but if it’s agreed, in a residential contract of up to five years (seven if the landlord is a company) it can’t exceed two months’ rent.

Do I have to pay the letting agency’s fee?

No. Since the 2023 Housing Law, property management and contract formalisation costs are borne by the landlord, and they can’t be passed on to the tenant directly or indirectly.

Why is moving out costing me more than I’d calculated?

Almost always because of the costs that don’t happen every month: home insurance, presents, the surprises of the first months in a new home. If you only count the obvious monthly items, your figure comes out low because it’s missing a real part of the spending.

Cuéntamo is an accounting app for households and the self-employed that tells you how much money you’re going to have over the coming months. You can try it free at cuentamo.com.

Law in force as of 12 October 2026. The one-month deposit has been in article 36 of the Urban Leases Law since it was passed (1994), and the cap on the additional guarantee since 2019. The rent-effort figures are from the 2025 report of the Spanish Youth Council’s Observatorio de Emancipación.

This article is checked against official sources and reviewed periodically. If you spot anything out of date, email us at [email protected].