The package of measures approved by the Government at the end of 2022 extended a 2% limit to rent increases throughout 2023 to combat the effects of inflation.
And he has not wasted a second before the elections on July 23: he has already presented the report in which he justifies the choice of the 140 Catalan municipalities where the rental price would be limited and has warned that it will also regulate tourist rentals to avoid migrations of owners who want to circumvent the limits.
There are 140 municipalities that concentrate 80.6% of the Catalan population and that, according to the new Housing Law, present inequalities between rental supply and demand that make it difficult for families to access housing.
At least 163 locations were initially on the table, but only these 140 were ultimately eligible based on the requirements to be considered stressed areas under the latest legislation:
Most of them orbit around the city of Barcelona, ??follow the coastal mountain range or coincide with large population centers, such as the provincial capitals.
The new mayor of the capital, Jaume Collboni, has ratified the city as a stressed area. It is one of the first actions that he has taken after being sworn in as mayor. And it is understandable: Barcelona meets both requirements to be considered stressed.
In particular, the residents of Barcelona dedicate, on average, 36% of their income to paying the rent, according to the latest data that La Vanguardia has been able to access. The percentage of mortgage charge reaches 43% in the Catalan capital.
Once its stressed nature is confirmed, the price of the new rental contracts in these municipalities will be limited to that of the previous contract in force for the last 5 years, after applying the annual update percentage in accordance with inflation and current legislation.
The big holders – owners of more than 10 homes – will be governed by the reference price index created by the Housing Agency of Catalonia.
In the middle of the electoral campaign, housing works as a leitmotif of political discourses from all over the spectrum. And the regulation of rent in Catalonia has its history.
In 2020, the Parliament of Catalonia —governed by Junts and ERC— approved a law that declared a total of 60 municipalities as stressed areas. The PP filed an appeal, which the Supreme Court upheld, and the Law was partially annulled shortly after.
This time, ERC was a key player in the approval of the Housing Law in Congress, which revalidates the Catalan predecessor. It was to be expected, then, that, now that Catalonia is governed, the party would carry out these measures.
The procedure is as follows: the Government publishes the list of municipalities in tension in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC), a 20-day public information period is opened to receive allegations and finally the final decision is transferred to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.
Even if everything goes in order, a change of government in the next elections could frustrate Catalonia’s intentions to regulate rents in these stressed municipalities, especially after the PP confirmed in its electoral program for 23J that it will repeal the Housing Law if it reaches Moncloa.
Some Catalan owners with rented homes have considered moving to temporary rental or tourist use, two different modalities with which they intended to overcome these limits on the rental price.
This, if so, would completely contradict the objective of the Housing Law, which is to increase the supply of rental housing at affordable prices. For this reason, after the announcement of the stressed areas, the Generalitat has also revealed that it is working on a Law that regulates seasonal rental contracts.
Although limited to the Urban Leasing Law, the current regulations leave many temporary rental conditions to the free agreement between landlord and tenant. It should be remembered that, in any case, this type of short-term rental does not enjoy reductions in personal income tax, some tax benefits that those who rent their apartment as their habitual residence do enjoy.
