Seasonal worker accommodation in Spain and the IPREM rent cap
Article 109 of Spain's immigration rules caps accommodation rent at 15 per cent of IPREM and 22 per cent with utilities, checked by the labour inspectorate.
The employer must guarantee adequate accommodation for the whole activity period, under article 109 of the Reglamento approved by Real Decreto 1155/2024. It is to be offered free of charge as the preferred arrangement and, where rent is charged, it may not exceed 15 per cent of the IPREM in force, or 22 per cent once utilities are added.
With the monthly IPREM set at 600 euros by the Ley 31/2022 state budget act, those ceilings work out at 90 euros of rent and 132 euros including water, electricity and gas. Check the IPREM for the current financial year before writing a figure into the accommodation document, because the ceiling moves with the indicator rather than with the contract.
What article 109 requires in writing
The guarantee is not satisfied by having beds. The provision requires habitability, hygiene and adequate sanitary conditions, and it adds that the employer's compliance with the guarantee must be verified. Where exceptional supervening circumstances arise, the obligation continues.
The employer must hand the worker a document setting out the terms of the arrangement, including the real cost of utilities. Rent and utilities are not deducted automatically from the payslip: payment follows from what that document provides. Any change of accommodation is notified to the competent authority.
Two parties can come and check. The Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, exercising the powers in its own legislation, and trade union organisations, which may enter the accommodation with the workers' authorisation.
What the 2026 collective hiring order adds
| Rule | Provision | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum rent | Article 109 of the Reglamento and article 7.2 of Orden ISM/1547/2025 | 15 per cent of the IPREM in force |
| Rent plus utilities | Same provisions | 22 per cent of IPREM, unless abusive use is evidenced |
| Shared accommodation without individual metering | Article 7.2 of Orden ISM/1547/2025 | The 22 per cent ceiling applies to the accommodation as a whole, not per person |
| Documenting the split | Article 7.2 | Allocation criterion, total number of residents and billing period, with invoices retained |
| Duration of provision | Article 7.1 | The whole activity period and every subsequent call |
| Habitability in agriculture | Annex IX of Orden ISM/1547/2025 | Habitability conditions for seasonal and campaign migrant worker accommodation |
Orden ISM/1547/2025 of 23 December, which governs collective hiring at origin for 2026, closed in its article 7.2 the gap that generated most disputes. In shared accommodation without an individual meter, some employers applied the 22 per cent of IPREM to each person housed, so that twelve workers in one building produced twelve times the ceiling. The order prohibits that expressly and requires the accommodation document to explain the proportional allocation criterion for the real utility costs.
Paragraph 1 of the same article 7 adds a force majeure rule. If a supervening cause prevents the accommodation being vacated on the date planned at the end of the activity, provision extends until the situation is resolved. And if the cause affects the accommodation itself so that it loses the habitability conditions of annex IX, the employer must immediately provide another building that meets them.
Why accommodation sets the calendar, not the permit
Accommodation is not a step that comes after the authorisation. Article 103.3.c) of the Reglamento requires evidence, filed with the application, that the employer will make adequate accommodation available. A company that has secured labour but not beds is not in a position to file, and because the application must be lodged at least two months before the activity starts, bed capacity is contracted almost a full quarter before the campaign.
The concrete failure runs like this. A grower in Almería books fifty places in a hostel forty kilometres from the greenhouse and deducts 90 euros of rent from the first payslip. Two things go wrong at once: article 107.1.c) also requires the employer to cover the transfer between the accommodation and the workplace, a cost that was never budgeted, and the automatic payroll deduction breaches article 109. An inspection report on either ground meets article 5.1.a) of Orden ISM/1547/2025, which allows collective hiring to be refused to an employer who has breached the guarantees in the two immediately preceding years. The real cost is not the fine, it is next year's campaign.
The sanctions that follow such a report are set out in Spanish labour inspection penalties, and the remaining duties attached to the instrument in the seasonal authorisation and the nine month limit. The European floor that Spain is building on is described in the Seasonal Workers Directive and accommodation, and what Werklist coordinates with the employer is on our employers page.
The IPREM ceiling is easy to comply with and easy to breach through a payroll oversight. What rarely comes back is the year of exclusion from collective hiring that follows.
Keep reading
All posts →What a UK sponsor licence costs an employer in 2026
The Home Office charges £1,682 for a medium or large Worker sponsor licence, £525 per Certificate of Sponsorship and £1,320 a year in skills charge.
UK skilled worker salary thresholds and going rates 2026
The Home Office sets an hourly floor of GBP 17.13 under Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations and GBP 12.82 under Table 2, each alongside the going rate.