VFT is now VUT: What Changed for Owners Under Decreto 31/2024

If you own a holiday rental on the Costa del Sol, you have probably spent the last year looking at your letterbox with a slight sense of dread. Spanish bureaucracy is a headache at the best of times, but recently the Andalusian government has turned up the heat on property owners.

The big talk of the coast is Decreto 31/2024, de 29 de enero (published in BOJA No. 24 on 02/02/2024). It introduces major updates to the old rental framework established back in 2016.

If you are worried about losing your license, getting caught out by local town halls, or facing an unexpected fine, you are not alone. Let's look at exactly what changed, what you need to fix immediately, and what you can stop stressing about.

The Name Change: VFT is officially VUT

Let’s start with the easiest part. You might have noticed people swapping acronyms lately. The old term Vivienda con Fines Turísticos (VFT) has been rebranded to Vivienda de Uso Turístico (VUT).

Does this mean your existing license is dead? No.

If your property was registered before February 7, 2024, you do not need to register all over again. You get to keep your existing registration code with the "VFT" prefix on the Andalusian Tourism Registry (RTA). However, if you sell the property, buy a new one, or make any official modifications to your license today, it will be issued under the new "VUT" prefix. Your old license is safe, but the rules governing how you run the property have changed completely.

The Bathroom Trap: New Guest-to-Bathroom Ratios

This is where many owners are going to get caught out, and it is a costly fix if you get it wrong. The Andalusian government wants to stop overcrowded "party pads" and improve the overall quality of tourist accommodation.

Under the new technical annexes of Decreto 31/2024, which modify the older rules of Decreto 28/2016, there is a hard limit of 15 beds per villa. You are also capped at a maximum of 4 beds per bedroom.

The real sting is the bathroom ratio. Your property must now have:

• At least 2 bathrooms if your capacity is greater than 5 guests.
• At least 3 bathrooms if your capacity is greater than 8 guests.

Think about that three-bedroom apartment you rent out to groups of six. If it only has one bathroom, you are now operating outside the law. You have two options: construction work to add a bathroom, or updating your license to reduce your maximum occupancy to 5 guests. Reducing your guest limit might hurt your nightly rate, but it is much cheaper than a heavy fine.

The Air Conditioning and Blackout Deadline (And Yes, It Has Passed)

Under the original 2016 laws, climate control rules were somewhat relaxed. Many owners got away with ceiling fans or portable units.

Decreto 31/2024 put an end to that. You must now have fixed climate control systems (heating and cooling) in all bedrooms and living spaces. If you rent out your property between May and August, cooling is mandatory. If you rent between December and March, heating is mandatory. No more noisy plastic fans in the corner of the room.

On top of that, every bedroom and living room must have a physical window-darkening system. This means proper shutters, external blinds, or heavy, high-quality blackout curtains.

Existing VFT properties were given a 12-month grace period to comply with these physical and technical upgrades. That grace period expired on February 22, 2025.

If your property is currently hosting guests and does not have fixed air conditioning or window darkening, you are open to immediate license suspension.

The Calendar Trap: "Clandestine" Rental Fines

Another major update in Decreto 31/2024 is the requirement to declare your exact operational months. When you file your Declaración Responsable, you must state when your property is available for rent. If you leave this blank, the administration assumes you are open for business 365 days a year.

However, if you declared that you only rent your apartment during the summer (perhaps because you use it yourself in the winter), you must not accept bookings outside those declared months.

If you advertise or rent your property during a month you did not declare, the authorities will classify this as "clandestine activity." Under the regional tourism law (Ley 13/2011, de 23 de diciembre, del Turismo de Andalucía), operating a clandestine tourist activity carries severe penalties. The authorities are actively scraping booking calendars to match them against official registry declarations.

How to Protect Your Rental Income

Staying compliant does not have to be an administrative nightmare, but it does require attention. If you are managing your property from abroad, it is incredibly easy to miss these local updates until an inspector is already knocking on your door.

At Casa del Sol, we handle the boring, stressful legalities so you do not have to worry about sudden rule changes or language barriers. If you want to make sure your property is fully compliant and still making the return it should, use our income estimator to see how much your villa can earn under the latest regulations.