Mid-term or long-term let: which is right for your Valencia flat
A twelve-month contract and a series of six-month ones look similar on a spreadsheet. They behave nothing alike once a tenant moves out in August. This article compares the two ways of renting a flat in Valencia, mid-term and long-term, on the things that actually decide the outcome for an owner: legal position, income, wear, empty months and how much work each one is.
The two products
Long-term let. A standard residential contract under Spanish rental law (LAU), for a tenant who makes the flat their home. Usually unfurnished or lightly furnished. Since 2019 the tenant has the right to stay up to 5 years if the landlord is a private individual and 7 years if the landlord is a company, whatever the contract says. The tenant can leave after 6 months with 30 days' notice. Deposit is 1 month by law, with limited extra guarantees allowed. The rent is stable, the paperwork is done once, and the tenant deals with their own utilities.
Mid-term let. A temporary contract (arrendamiento de temporada) for a tenant who is in Valencia for a reason with an end date: a work assignment, a semester, a renovation of their own home, a trial period before buying. Furnished, with utilities and wifi arranged, for 1 to 11 months. Because the flat is not the tenant's permanent home, the 5-year protections do not apply. The tenant is typically an expat professional, a relocated employee, a visiting academic or a family between houses.
Both are legal, both are common in Valencia, and both are things Nestor manages. They suit different flats and different owners.
Income: the headline number lies
Mid-term rents per month are higher than long-term rents for the same flat, because the tenant is paying for furniture, utilities, flexibility and the absence of a five-year commitment. The premium varies a lot by neighbourhood and season.
The mistake is to multiply the higher monthly figure by twelve. A mid-term flat is empty between tenants, sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a few weeks. It also carries costs a long-term flat does not: utilities in the owner's name, wifi, a clean at every changeover, furniture that wears, and more management hours. The honest comparison is annual net income after empty months and turnover costs, and on that measure a well-run mid-term flat in a good location usually still comes out ahead, but by less than the monthly figures suggest, and only if the empty months are kept short.
A long-term flat earns less per month and has almost no turnover cost. If the tenant stays four years, the owner has had four years of income with one set of paperwork. If the tenant stops paying, the owner has a long legal process ahead.
Empty months: where the real difference is
This is the part the spreadsheet hides. A long-term flat has one risky moment: the day the tenant leaves. A mid-term flat has that moment several times a year.
In Valencia the demand is not flat across the year. Corporate assignments and academic stays tend to start in September and January. The summer months bring a different tenant with different expectations, and August in particular is a month when a lot of six-month contracts end at once. An owner or manager who lets a mid-term tenant leave in August without the next one lined up will have the flat empty in the quietest weeks of the year.
The answer is not to avoid mid-term. It is to manage the calendar: end dates set so they land in strong months, the next tenant sourced before the current one leaves, and a turnover clean that takes days, not weeks. Done well, the empty time across a year is a few weeks. Done badly, it is a quarter.
Wear, cleaning and furniture
A long-term tenant lives in the flat with their own furniture and treats it as home. Wear is slow, and the owner sees the flat once every few years.
A mid-term tenant uses the owner's furniture, the owner's washing machine and the owner's sofa. Each changeover means a professional clean, an inventory check, and small repairs. Mattresses, sofas and kitchenware have a life measured in tenancies, not years. Over five years a mid-term flat needs a refurbishment budget that a long-term flat does not.
On the other side, the flat is inspected at every changeover, so problems are caught early. A long-term flat can hide a leak for three years.
Legal position and risk
Long-term: strong tenant protection, long notice periods, and a slow eviction process if rent stops. Rent increases during the contract are limited to the legal index. Agency fees for a long-term residential let are paid by the landlord since the 2023 housing law. The trade is stability for control.
Mid-term: the contract ends on the date it says, the deposit is usually 2 months, and the tenant has less protection because the flat is not their permanent home. The trade is control for turnover. One condition: the contract must genuinely be temporary, with a stated reason and an end date. A "temporary" contract used to house someone who actually lives in Valencia permanently can be reclassified by a court as a long-term one. This is where a manager who knows the law earns their fee.
Work: how much of your life each one takes
Long-term, self-managed from abroad: a few hours a year in a good year, plus the occasional repair, plus a very bad year when the tenant leaves or stops paying.
Mid-term, self-managed from abroad: not realistic. Listings, viewings, contracts, cleans, inventories, utility bills, wifi, keys and tenant questions several times a year, in Spanish, on Spanish working hours.
Mid-term, managed: the owner receives a monthly statement and approves the occasional repair. The manager does the rest. This is the normal way mid-term flats in Valencia are run, and it is the model Nestor was built for, with Globexs supplying the expat and professional tenants.
Which one for your flat
A rough guide, not a rule:
Mid-term suits a furnished flat in a central or well-connected neighbourhood (Ruzafa, Eixample, El Carmen, Pla del Real, the areas near the port and the university), an owner who wants higher net income and flexibility to use or sell the flat, and an owner who is prepared to pay for management.
Long-term suits an unfurnished or older flat, a location outside the areas expats look at, an owner who wants minimum involvement and a predictable figure, and an owner who is comfortable with the 5 or 7-year protection.
Mixed portfolios often run both: mid-term on the flats that command a premium, long-term on the ones that do not. That is a normal structure for a fund or developer with a block in Valencia, and the reporting per asset shows which is which.
Switching between them
A long-term flat can be moved to mid-term when the tenant leaves: furnish it, arrange utilities and wifi, and put it on the mid-term market. A mid-term flat can go long-term at any changeover. The flexibility runs both ways, which is another reason not to decide forever on day one.
If you own a flat or a building in Valencia and are not sure which model fits, send the address, the size and the current situation. You will get a written proposal that says which we would recommend and why, with a fixed monthly fee.
Ask which model fits your property
Frequently asked questions
What is a mid-term rental in Spain? A temporary contract (arrendamiento de temporada) for a furnished flat, typically 1 to 11 months, for a tenant with a specific reason to be in the city and an end date. The long-term tenant protections do not apply.
How long is a long-term rental contract in Spain? The tenant may stay up to 5 years with a private landlord and 7 years with a company landlord, and may leave after 6 months with 30 days' notice.
Is mid-term rent higher than long-term? Per month, yes, because it includes furniture, utilities and flexibility. Per year, the gap narrows once empty weeks and turnover costs are counted.
What is the biggest risk with mid-term lets? Empty months, especially when several contracts end in the same quiet period. Managing end dates and lining up the next tenant early is the main job.
Can a temporary contract be challenged? Yes, if the tenant actually lives in Valencia permanently and the contract was only labelled temporary. The reason and the end date must be real.
Can I switch my flat from long-term to mid-term? At the end of the current tenancy, yes. Furnish it, set up utilities and wifi, and list it on the mid-term market. The reverse is also possible at any changeover.
