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Tenancy and Loan Law, 5731-1971

חוק השכירות והשאילה, תשל"א-1971

Published: 1971-08-05Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-04-02 · Last amended 2026-03-31✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Section F: Residential Lease Contract

Definitions – Section F§
25a.

In this Section –

"apartment" means a room or suite of rooms used for residential purposes;

"the leased apartment" means the apartment leased under a residential lease contract, including the parts of the common property attached to it by way of attachment within the meaning thereof in section 55(a) and (c) of the Real Property Law, that were leased as aforesaid;

"apartment unfit for habitation" means an apartment in which one of the conditions listed in the First Schedule is present;

"residential lease contract" means a lease contract under which a right of lease in an apartment is conferred for residential purposes.

Form of a Residential Lease Contract§
25b.

A residential lease contract shall be drawn up in writing and signed by the landlord and the tenant; however, non-compliance with this provision shall not derogate from the validity of the contract; a signed copy of the contract shall be delivered to each of the parties.

Content of a Residential Lease Contract§
25c.

A residential lease contract shall include, inter alia, the particulars listed in the Second Schedule; the Minister of Justice, with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, may, by Order, amend the Second Schedule.

Standard Contract – Supplementation§
25d.
(a)The Minister of Justice may prescribe by Regulations a standard residential lease contract (in this section – standard contract).
(b)Where the Minister has prescribed a standard contract, the following provisions shall apply:
(1)Where a residential lease contract was not drawn up in accordance with the provisions of section 25b, and the parties did not otherwise agree, the standard contract shall be regarded as the residential lease contract concluded between the parties;
(2)Where a residential lease contract does not include a provision that is required to be included in it under section 25c, and the parties did not otherwise agree, a provision on that matter contained in the standard contract shall be regarded as part of the residential lease contract concluded between the parties.
Apartment Suitable for Habitation§
25e.

The landlord shall deliver the leased apartment in a condition suitable for habitation; the provisions applicable to non-conformity shall apply to the delivery of an apartment that is not suitable for habitation in contravention of the provisions of this section.

Apartment Fit for Habitation§
25f.
(a)The landlord shall deliver the leased apartment in a condition fit for habitation; an apartment in which one of the conditions listed in the First Schedule is present shall be regarded as an apartment unfit for habitation; the Minister of Justice, in consultation with the Minister of Construction and Housing and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, may, by Order, amend the First Schedule.
(b)Where the landlord delivered the apartment in a condition unfit for habitation, such delivery shall be regarded as a breach of contract.
Delivery of the Leased Apartment§
25g.
(a)The landlord shall deliver the leased apartment to the tenant and the tenant shall take possession of the leased apartment, at the time agreed upon by the parties under the residential lease contract.
(b)Delivery of the leased apartment to the tenant shall be made when it is vacant of any person or asset, except for an asset that was agreed would be in the apartment at the time of delivery.
(c)The landlord shall provide the tenant, no later than the time of delivery of the leased apartment, with maintenance and use instructions in relation to the apartment, its installations and the assets therein, to the extent that these are required.
Repair of Defects and Faults in the Leased Apartment§
25h.
(a)
(1)The tenant is responsible for any fault in the leased apartment, including a defect, caused by unreasonable use of the leased apartment;
(2)The tenant shall repair at the tenant's own expense a fault as provided in paragraph (1), unless the parties agreed otherwise.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 7, the landlord shall repair at the landlord's own expense any other fault or defect in the leased apartment that is not as provided in subsection (a) and is not trivial, within a reasonable time and no later than 30 days from the day on which the landlord received a demand therefor from the tenant, and if the defect was one whose repair is urgent – the landlord shall repair the defect within a reasonable time and no later than three days from the day on which the landlord received such a demand; for this purpose, "defect whose repair is urgent" means a defect that does not permit reasonable habitation of the apartment; nothing in the provisions of this subsection shall derogate from the provisions of section 9(c).
(c)Where the landlord did not repair a fault or defect, in response to the tenant's demand, within the period referred to in subsection (b), the provisions of section 9(a) and (b) shall apply, with the necessary modifications.
Ongoing Payments Borne by the Tenant§
25i.
(a)The tenant shall bear the following payments in respect of the term of the lease:
(1)rent under the residential lease contract;
(2)taxes applicable to the occupier of the apartment, including municipal rates;
(3)payments for the consumption of ongoing services provided to the tenant in the residential apartment, including water, electricity, gas and heating;
(4)payments for ongoing maintenance paid to the representative of the condominium or to a person with whom a contract for the management and ongoing maintenance of the condominium was concluded;
(5)a payment of another type prescribed by the Minister.
(b)The tenant shall not bear directly any payments not detailed in subsection (a), including the following payments:
(1)a payment intended for the acquisition or improvement of permanent systems or installations serving the leased apartment, except for special adaptations or improvements requested by the tenant;
(2)insurance premiums for building insurance of the leased apartment;
(3)payments that the landlord owes to a third party, which are not as provided in subsection (a), including brokerage fees to a broker where the broker acted on behalf of the landlord.
(c)Nothing in the provisions of this section shall derogate from the tenant's obligation to bear the costs of repairing faults under section 25h(a).
Security§
25j.
(a)In this section, "security" means security for the purpose of securing the tenant's obligations arising from the residential lease contract.
(b)Where the landlord requested from the tenant one or more securities entailing a monetary outlay for the tenant, including a bank guarantee or cash, their aggregate amount shall not exceed the lower of the following amounts:
(1)the amount of rent that the tenant undertook to pay under the residential lease contract for one third of the term of the lease;
(2)an amount equal to three times the monthly rent that the tenant undertook to pay under the residential lease contract.
(c)The landlord may realise a security given to the landlord by the tenant only in the cases set out below and in the amounts specified alongside them:
(1)the tenant did not pay the rent on the date fixed in the lease contract – up to the amount of the unpaid rent plus linkage differentials and interest in accordance with the terms of the contract;
(2)the tenant did not repair faults for which the tenant is responsible under section 25h(a) – up to the cost of the repair;
(3)the tenant did not pay the ongoing payments that the tenant is liable to pay under section 25i(a)(2) to (5) – up to the amount of the unpaid payments;
(4)the tenant did not vacate the leased apartment upon expiry of the term of the lease – in an amount in accordance with the terms of the contract.
(d)The landlord shall notify the tenant of the landlord's intention to realise the security a reasonable time in advance and shall allow the tenant to remedy what requires remedying within a reasonable time.
(e)Upon expiry of the term of the lease, the landlord shall return to the tenant the security or the balance thereof after realisation under subsection (c), including the proceeds thereof, within 60 days of the date of return of the leased apartment to the landlord's possession or until the date on which the tenant's debts as referred to in subsection (c) were repaid, whichever is the later.
Notice of Transfer of Rights in the Apartment§
25k.

Where the landlord has conveyed the landlord's rights in the leased apartment to another under section 21(b), the landlord shall notify the tenant thereof in writing, before the date on which the landlord is required to deliver the apartment to the purchaser of the rights; in the notice the landlord shall set out the particulars of the purchaser and the means of communication with the purchaser.

Extension of the Term of the Lease§
25l.
(a)The landlord shall notify the tenant, a reasonable time before the expiry of the term of the lease under the residential lease contract, whether the landlord wishes to extend the term of the lease and on what terms.
(b)Where the landlord has an option to extend the term of the lease under the residential lease contract, the landlord shall notify the tenant, no later than 90 days before the expiry of the term of the lease, whether the landlord wishes to exercise the option, and the landlord may exercise the option only if the terms for the extension period were stipulated in the contract in advance, and subject to those terms.
(c)Where the tenant has an option to extend the term of the lease under the residential lease contract, the tenant shall notify the landlord, no later than 60 days before the expiry of the term of the lease, whether the tenant wishes to exercise the option.
Stipulation for Cancellation Without Cause§
25m.
(a)A stipulation in a residential lease contract that enables the lessor to cancel the contract other than on account of a breach thereof is void, unless an equal right of cancellation is also conferred on the lessee.
(b)The lessor shall give the lessee notice of cancellation of a residential lease contract pursuant to a stipulation referred to in subsection (a) at least 90 days in advance, and the lessee shall give the lessor notice of cancellation of the contract pursuant to such a stipulation at least 60 days in advance.
Prohibition on Stipulation§
25n.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2(c), in a residential lease contract —

(1)the provisions of section 25f may not be excluded by stipulation;
(2)the provisions of sections 6, 8 to 10, 15, 21(b) and (c), 23 to 25e, 25h(a)(1), (b) and (c), and 25i to 25m may not be excluded by stipulation except in favour of the lessee.
Limitations on Application§
25o.
(a)The provisions of this Section shall not apply to a residential lease contract as set out below:
(1)a residential lease contract in respect of an apartment that is one of the following:
(a)an apartment in a hotel as defined in the Tourism Services Law, 5736-1976, or another apartment let for holiday purposes;
(b)an apartment in a hostel as defined in the Supervision of Hostels Law, 5725-1965;
(c)an apartment in a sheltered housing residence as defined in the Sheltered Housing Law, 5772-2012;
(d)an apartment in student dormitories, pupil dormitories, or worker dormitories;
(e)an apartment to which the Tenant Protection Law [Consolidated Version], 5732-1972, applies;
(2)a residential lease contract under which the lease period does not exceed three months and the parties have no option to extend it;
(3)a residential lease contract under which the lease period exceeds ten years and the lessor has no option to cancel the contract at an earlier date;
(4)a residential lease contract under which the rent, per month, exceeds NIS 20,000 or such other amount as the Minister of Justice has prescribed with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset; the amount under this paragraph shall be updated on 1 January of each year in accordance with the rate of change in the Consumer Price Index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, known on the date of the update as compared with that Index as known on 1 January of the preceding year, and shall be rounded to the nearest amount that is a multiple of NIS 10; the Minister of Justice shall publish a notice of the updated amount in Reshumot (Official Gazette);
(5)a residential lease contract of another type prescribed by the Minister of Justice with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset.
(b)The provisions of section 25n(2) shall not apply to a residential lease contract entered into between a lessor and a lessee who is a relative of the lessor; in this subsection, "relative" means a spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, descendant, and descendants of a spouse, and the spouse of each of the foregoing.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2(b), where the lessee leased the let apartment from the lessor for a period not exceeding ten years (in this subsection — the head lessee) and the head lessee sub-let the apartment, in whole or in part, to a sub-lessee, the following provisions shall apply:
(1)the lessor's rights under sections 16a(a) and 20a shall remain those of the lessor and not those of the head lessee;
(2)the obligations under section 25h(b) and (c) shall apply to the lessor and not to the head lessee;
(3)payments that do not apply to the lessee under section 25i(b) shall not apply to the head lessee.

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Chapter II: Loan for Use

Nature of Loan for Use§

26.

A loan for use is a right to possess and use an asset other than permanently, where the right is conferred without consideration.

Application of Sections§

27.

The provisions of sections 2 to 5, 11, 12, 16a, 17, 18, 20, 20a, 21 and 25 shall apply, with the necessary modifications, also to a loan for use.

Exclusion of Remedies§

28.
(a)The provisions of section 6 shall apply to non-conformity of the loaned asset; however, such non-conformity shall not constitute grounds for damages unless the lender knew of it at the time of conclusion of the contract and the borrower did not know of it.
(b)A breach of a loan for use contract shall not constitute grounds for a claim for specific performance.

Termination of Loan for Use§

29.
(a)The lender may cancel the loan for use contract as long as the loaned asset has not been delivered to the borrower, and may terminate the loan for use within its period if the borrower has died or if the loaned asset is required by the lender for the lender's own needs, all upon giving the borrower reasonable advance notice.
(b)Where no period for the loan for use has been agreed upon, or where the parties have continued to maintain it after the expiry of the agreed period without fixing a new period, either party may terminate the loan for use by giving the other party reasonable advance notice.

Transfer of Loan for Use§

30.

The borrower may not transfer to another the right to possess and use the loaned asset or lend it by way of sub-loan, except with the consent of the lender.

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Chapter III: Miscellaneous

Use Without Possession§

31.

The provisions of Chapter I shall apply, with the necessary modifications, also to a right conferred for consideration to use an asset where such right does not carry with it the right to possess it, and the provisions of Chapter II shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to such a right conferred without consideration.

Repeal§

32.

Book 2 of the Mejelle, insofar as it relates to the lease of assets, is repealed.

Amendment of Real Property Law, 5729-1969§

33.

In the Real Property Law, 5729-1969 —

(1)in section 3, instead of "in consideration of rent" there shall come "for consideration";
(2)section 82 — repealed;
(3)in section 83, the words "except for section 82" shall be deleted.

Commencement and Transitional Provisions§

34.

This Law shall commence on the 14th day of Tevet 5732 (1 January 1972); the previous law shall continue to apply to a transaction entered into before the commencement of this Law.

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