Erasmus Accommodation in Spain: How to Find Housing for Spring 2027
Spanish universities handle exchange-student housing differently. Learn how to check your university's route, start a private search and build a backup before spring 2027.
If you are looking for Erasmus accommodation in Spain for January or February 2027, start by finding out whether your host university offers rooms at all. Spanish universities handle accommodation differently: some offer residence options, some provide guidance only, and some do not provide exchange-student housing.
The short answer: Check your host university's housing page this week. If it offers rooms, apply as soon as its booking period opens. If it does not, treat the private search as your main plan, not a fallback. An application, waiting-list place or reservation request is not a confirmed room. Do not travel until your first nights are confirmed in writing.
Reviewed by the HeyStudent Editorial Team · Last reviewed 23 October 2026 · Spanish rental law changed in October 2026 and the final parliamentary outcome has not been verified · Sources are listed at the end.
How university housing works for Erasmus students in Spain
"Housing from your university" can mean four different things:
University allocation: the university assigns you a room.
Residence application: you apply to a residence, which decides whether to offer you a place.
Guidance or referral: an office gives advice or a list of options, and you arrange the room yourself.
Confirmed room: you have written confirmation of a specific room, dates and price.
Only the last one means you have somewhere to live.
The examples below show how much universities differ. Each row describes that university or faculty only. It is not a rule for Spain.
University | What its official page says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) | Its campus residence (Vila Universitària) has a reservation page for exchange students. The residence process asks for a €300 first deposit, and a place is confirmed after the application, the deposit and the UAB acceptance letter. Minimum stay 4 months. Its FAQ adds a second deposit equal to one monthly payment, due when the contract is signed. No opening date is given on the page. | A residence route exists, but you must apply. Ask the international office when requests open. |
Universidad de Granada (UGR) | The Accommodation Office offers guidance on flats, rooms, residences, hostels and hotels. The page does not say the university allocates rooms. | Expect to search yourself, with advice from the office. Check UGR's incoming-student page for your dates. |
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Faculty of Business and Economics | Its 2026/27 fact sheet says: "UAM does not provide accommodation for exchange students." Second-semester classes run 26 January to 28 May 2027. | Treat the private search as your main route. |
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) | Its 2026/27 fact sheet says: "We strongly recommend you to assure your housing before arriving in Madrid." It estimates total monthly living costs in Madrid, including shared flat, food and transport, at around €700 to €800. Spring welcome event 22 January 2027; classes 26 January to 7 May 2027. | Start early and confirm housing before you travel. The €700 to €800 is total living costs, not the price of a room. |
Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Faculty of Law page | "The University of Barcelona does not directly manage accommodation for visitors." It works with partner organisations such as halls of residence. | Look at the partner halls and plan a private search in parallel. |
In the examples checked for this guide, the university route sometimes leads to guidance or partner organisations rather than an allocated room. Dates vary too: UAM's faculty sheet takes second-semester nominations from 1 to 30 September and applications from 1 to 31 October. Your sending office gives you your own dates. If your university is not listed, check its incoming-students page for whether it manages rooms, how to apply and whether a place is guaranteed.
The Erasmus housing framework: university first, backup always
This is HeyStudent planning guidance, not an official rule.
Find out what your university offers. Open the incoming-students housing page. Note whether it allocates rooms, takes residence applications, only gives guidance or offers nothing.
If it offers rooms, apply as soon as the booking period opens. Where places are limited, prepare your documents in advance, and keep the confirmation.
Start a private search in parallel. Starting both routes together gives you more time to compare options.
Know your stop-waiting triggers. Treat the university route as unavailable or uncertain if the university says it does not provide rooms, its stated decision date has passed without confirmation, you are on a waiting list without a clear decision date, or your arrival is approaching and you still have no confirmed place. As HeyStudent planning guidance, do not rely only on an unconfirmed university application once you are six to eight weeks from arrival. Keep the private search active until accommodation is confirmed in writing.
Line up a backup. Options are a private room in a shared flat, a residence bed if one is open, or a short stay for the first nights.
Never arrive without your first nights confirmed. A hostel or short-term stay is a sensible bridge. Only UGR's page, of those we read, lists hostels and hotels, so this is our advice, not a university rule.
What are your backup options in Spain?
A private room in a shared flat. The most common private route.
A residence bed. Check whether places are still open and the minimum stay. UAB's residence, for example, asks for at least 4 months.
A bridging stay. A hostel or short-term booking for the first nights, so you can view rooms in person without pressure.
Before you accept any room, check the contract dates, which bills are included, the commute to campus, and that room, price and dates are confirmed in writing.
Need a backup? Browse student rooms and residences in your Spanish university city, then compare the dates, included costs and contract terms.
What does a room cost in Spain?
Asking prices change quickly, so use these as a guide. According to idealista's Q2 2026 room-price report (published 24 August 2026), the advertised average for a room was about €425 a month in Spain as a whole, €550 in Madrid, €600 in Barcelona and €450 in Málaga. These are advertised asking prices from one portal, not official statistics. The report does not give levels for Valencia, Granada or Sevilla. To compare cities, see the best Erasmus cities in Europe.
What do you pay upfront, and what does Spanish law say?
Read this carefully: the rules changed in October 2026. This section gives general information, not legal advice. Check the current official rules and get advice on your contract if you need it.
First, know the four payments you may be asked for. They are different things:
First month's rent.
The statutory deposit (fianza), a cash deposit required by law.
An additional guarantee, if the landlord asks for one and the law allows it.
A residence or platform reservation payment, such as UAB's €300 first deposit, plus a second deposit of one monthly payment when the contract is signed. These belong to that residence's process and are not the statutory deposit.
What the national law (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, LAU) says:
Statutory deposit. For contracts signed from 8 October 2026, the LAU includes both habitual and qualifying temporary room rentals within its housing-rental definitions (arts. 2.1 and 2.3). The statutory cash deposit for a housing rental is one month's rent, and two months for a use other than housing (art. 36.1). A temporary contract must state a real and provable reason for the temporary stay (art. 7.2). Different rules may apply to contracts signed before 8 October 2026 or to arrangements outside the LAU housing definitions, so check the contract date and purpose.
Older contracts. Seasonal or temporary-housing contracts signed before 8 October 2026 continue to be treated as contracts for a use other than housing, under the previous regime, until the term agreed in the contract ends (transitional provision eight of the LAU, added by RDL 29/2026).
Length of temporary stays. A temporary housing contract runs for more than 31 days and generally not more than 12 months (art. 9 bis).
Rent in advance. A landlord cannot demand more than one month's rent in advance (art. 17.2). This limit concerns rent paid in advance; the statutory deposit and any legally permitted additional guarantee are separate.
Additional guarantee. For temporary leases it cannot exceed one month's rent, and you can never be required to take out rent-default insurance (art. 36.5).
Fees. Under the housing-lease rules, contract-management and formalisation costs cannot be passed to the tenant (art. 20.2). Ask whether your contract is a housing lease before you accept any fee.
Check-out record. At the end of the contract, the parties must record the condition of the dwelling when possession is returned in an end-of-tenancy document signed by both parties (art. 36.7). Separately, as practical evidence, photograph the room when you move in and keep the original files.
Getting the deposit back. Legal interest runs if the balance is not returned within one month of handing back the keys (art. 36.4).
Regional rules also matter. Some regions require the landlord to lodge the deposit with a public body.
Madrid: landlords must lodge it within 30 business days of signing (Comunidad de Madrid page, updated 13 October 2026).
Andalusia: for contracts signed from 24 January 2026, the landlord is no longer required to lodge the deposit with an Andalusian public body (Junta de Andalucía).
Catalonia: the landlord must lodge the deposit with INCASÒL within two months of signing. INCASÒL's deposit page says seasonal contracts of under a year have a deposit proportional to their length, based on two months' rent. Its FAQ says deposit and registration are mandatory for room rentals signed from 14 July 2026. INCASÒL publishes separate administrative instructions for calculating and lodging deposits on temporary and room contracts, so check the current procedure for your specific contract.
Valencia: the Generalitat's procedure regulates the deposit of the rent deposit for urban leases, whether for housing or another use, and for subleases. The part of the page we could read gives no amounts, so check it for your contract.
Legal status. These changes are currently in force (from 8 October 2026). As checked on 23 October 2026, the consolidated LAU on the BOE site showed no change after 7 October, and we had not verified an official notice confirming their final parliamentary validation or repeal. Press reports point to a parliamentary vote on validation in mid-November. Check the current consolidated LAU and the decree's status before relying on this section. We will update this page when the outcome is confirmed.
Your timeline for a January or February arrival
This is HeyStudent planning guidance. Your university's dates come first.
When | What to do |
|---|---|
Now, until you have your acceptance | Read your host university's housing page. Note whether rooms exist and when requests open. |
As soon as you have your acceptance | Apply for a university room if one is offered. Start the private search in parallel. |
Before you pay anything | Read the contract. Check the deposit, any extra guarantee, fees, dates and cancellation terms. |
Six to eight weeks before arrival | If nothing is confirmed in writing, make the private search your main route. |
Before you travel | Confirm your first nights in writing. Save the contract, receipts and landlord contact offline. |
Arrival | Photograph the room. Keep the original files. |
For scam and red-flag checks before you pay, read how to find student accommodation abroad safely. For the wider preparation sequence, read our Erasmus pre-departure checklist.
What if you are late?
If your semester starts soon and you have no room, book a short stay first, then search from inside the city. Do not pay a deposit for a room you have not seen or verified.
Sources and review
Last reviewed 23 October 2026 by the HeyStudent Editorial Team. Laws and university pages can change. Check each source for the latest wording. "Read" dates are the dates the team opened the page.
BOE: Ley 29/1994 de Arrendamientos Urbanos, consolidated text. Consolidated text updated 7 October 2026. Read 23 October 2026.
BOE: Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, de 6 de octubre. Published 7 October 2026 (BOE núm. 249). Read 23 October 2026.
INCASÒL: Dipòsit de fiances. No date shown. Read 20 October 2026.
INCASÒL: Preguntas más frecuentes. Updated 21 July 2026. Read 23 October 2026.
Generalitat Valenciana: deposit procedure (sede electrónica). Page shows the procedure as open since 11 April 2022 (no later update date seen). Read 20 October 2026.
Comunidad de Madrid: Fianzas de arrendamiento. Page metadata updated 13 October 2026. Read 23 October 2026.
Junta de Andalucía, AVRA: Novedades en las fianzas de arrendamiento. No date shown (entry into force 24 January 2026, Ley 5/2025). Read 21 October 2026.
idealista: La oferta de habitaciones sigue creciendo entre abril y junio (12%): su precio apenas sube un 1%. Published 24 August 2026. Read 21 October 2026. Asking prices from one portal.
Vila Universitària UAB: How to make a reservation (exchange students) and FAQ. No date shown. Read 21 October 2026.
UGR: Accommodation and living in Granada. No date shown. Read 20 October 2026.
UAM Faculty of Business and Economics: Economics fact sheet 2026/27. No separate date (headed "AY 2026/27"). Read 19 October 2026. Faculty-specific.
UC3M: fact sheet 2026/27 and key dates for incoming students 2026/27. No date shown. Read 19 October 2026.
Universitat de Barcelona: International students (incoming), Faculty of Law. No date shown. Read 19 October 2026. Faculty-specific.
