Repsol YPF

Rights when renting rooms vary depending on the formula selected. Generally, a shared flat includes the rental of the room and the use of the communal areas (kitchen, bathroom, corridors and lounge). In this case, the contract with the property owner can be signed with a single person who will take responsibility for it and collect the monthly rental payments from the other tenants, or there can be a separate contract for each room to be rented out in the flat, establishing the pertinent clauses between the different parties. A third formula involves a contract featuring the names of all of the tenants, such that in the event of non-payment by one tenant, the property owner can sue the remaining tenants. 

Irrespective of the type of contract selected, it is essential that all of your rights are provided for by the contract, so that there can be no subsequent doubts about which rooms you can use. In a shared flat, renting rooms usually implies using communal areas, however, it is sensible to ensure that this appears in the contract, agreeing all of the relevant clauses, such as the option of using the cupboards and the furniture located in the rooms. It would not be the first time that a landlord forbids their tenants from storing objects in the drawers of the lounge furniture because this is not stated in the contract. As such, you should clarify all of these issues with the property owner, by word of mouth and in writing, so that no subsequent issues arise. 

Likewise, you should ask the property owner to ensure that the contract contains the amounts to be paid (be it for renting one room or for the entire flat), the deposit, the rental period (which is usually a year and open to extension) and the penalties for damage to the room or the property. Naturally, it must specify the use of the communal areas, detailing them, from the corridor to the balcony, kitchen, lounge, utility room, dressing room, cupboards, etc. It is very important that all of your rights are reflected in the contract before you sign it, whether you opt for a rental agreement per room or there is a single name on the contract as the tenant of the entire property.  

Rights when renting rooms change when we are not dealing with a shared flat. In that case, there are two possibilities: that the property owner resides in the property and lets rooms, tenants not being entitled to use the communal areas, with the exception of the bathroom; or that the property owner does not live in the building, but still does not allow the use of the communal rooms, and only consents to the use of the rooms. In both cases, all of your rights should be reflected in the contract, specifying, in the case where there are two bathrooms, which one you can use, whether you can use the kitchen, the washing machine… In short, you should include all of the relevant clauses, however obvious they seem. If your landlord/landlady does not live in the property, you should be aware that they have the right to come in, but they cannot enter your room, since this is the room that you have rented. However, it is advisable that you discuss this matter with them, since some property owners enter flats in which the rooms are rented out more often than the tenants would like, an attitude which implies a clear lack of privacy for the tenants. 

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