Catalonia is once again tightening the screws on the rental market in the Autonomous Community by equating the cap measures on the rises in the prices of seasonal rentals and room rentals to the criteria already imposed on permanent housing rentals, especially in those areas declared to have a stressed residential market.
The Catalan Chamber has given the green light to the decree, which modifies various legislative texts and repeals previous measures after the agreement previously reached between PSC-Units, ERC, Comuns and CUP, against the votes against Junts, PP, Vox and Aliança Catalana.
-
Barcelona is the capital with the greatest weight of seasonal rentals
-
The Catalan capital is also the city with the most expensive room rents in Spain
-
More social housing and the right of first refusal and withdrawal on flats owned by large holders
The Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque, reached an agreement ‘in extremis’ with the parliamentary groups by which they agreed to vote in favour of the measure but that it will be processed as a bill in the Parliament of Catalonia.
The decree law establishes that seasonal rentals and room rentals will have the same price limits as regular rentals. “It is specified that all those homes that are intended to satisfy the need for housing, regardless of their duration, will be considered permanent housing leases,” the text states, and only homes intended for the satisfaction of recreational or tourist uses will be excluded, which must prove their condition at the time of formalization.
The decree also establishes in room rental contracts, the sum of the rents agreed in a single home may not exceed the maximum rent applicable to the unit rental of the home. According to the new approved regulation, any contractual agreement signed in the contract will be considered fraud if it incorporates clauses or practices that are misleading or that distort the contractual balance in terms of housing.
Barcelona is the capital with the greatest weight of seasonal rentals
The latest data on the supply in the housing rental market from idealista confirms that the city of Barcelona is the capital with the greatest weight of seasonal rentals in the rental market, reaching 43% of the total supply. Girona (26%), Tarragona (20%) and Lleida (5%) have different weights of seasonal rentals.
The supply of permanent rentals in the Catalan capital has fallen by 26% year-on-year at the end of 2024, while the stock of seasonal rentals increased by 31%. The increases in seasonal rentals over the last year are much higher in Girona (167%), Tarragona (57%) and Lleida (82%), while permanent rentals continue to fall by 18%, 34% and 22%, respectively.
The fear is that supply will continue to disappear from the market, as has been happening in the last five years, with skyrocketing demand and a stock that is sinking in Catalonia, especially since the entry into force of the Housing Law. The supply of homes advertised on idealista between March 2020 and January 2025, with the latest data compiled by idealista/data, idealista’s proptech, confirms that the stock of permanent rental has sunk by 58.1% in the city of Barcelona.
The Catalan capital is also the city with the most expensive room rents in Spain
The situation of the room rental market showed a general increase in supply at the national level of 22% year-on-year in the last part of 2024, the latest reference data from idealista/data. In Barcelona, they rose by 12% year-on-year, compared to 5% in Tarragona, while in Girona they fell by 22% and in Lleida by 6%. Barcelona accounts for 14% of the total supply of rooms for rent in all of Spain, only surpassed by Madrid (19%).
Barcelona is the city with the most expensive room rents in Spain, reaching 620 euros per month on average, overtaking Madrid (565 euros), after an annual increase of 17% in these rents.
In Girona, room rental prices have remained stable in 2024, with 400 euros/month, ahead of those in Tarragona (350 euros), which did not move either. Finally, in Lleida they have remained at 300 euros per month, the same as a year ago.
More social housing and the right of first refusal and withdrawal on flats owned by large holders
The regulation that will have to follow the procedure as a bill also incorporates modifications in the validity of the qualification period for social housing in stressed areas. In this sense, this classification will be mandatorily extended in areas declared to have a stressed residential market for the duration of this situation.
The decree-law will incorporate amendments from parliamentary groups and proposals from professional associations. Thus, it includes other measures such as leaving it to the criteria of the municipalities to make it mandatory to build parking spaces in new buildings dedicated to social housing. Aspects that refer to the deployment of the register of large holders or the exercise of the right of first refusal and withdrawal by the Administration have also been incorporated.
In this case, the text expands the cases in which the Administration can exercise this right over homes owned by large holders, and the possibility of its classification as official protection being permanent.
It also establishes that the amount of the deposits on deposit with Incasòl is used for public housing construction, mainly on a rental basis.
“The decree law aims to contribute to the existence of a sufficient and adequate supply of housing, which responds to the existing demand and allows a balance of the market, in conditions of transparency and correct operation, and to reverse its deficiencies or insufficiencies,” they say from the Ministry of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition.
Follow all the latest real estate information and reports in our daily and weekly newsletter. You can also follow the luxury real estate market with our monthly luxury newsletter.
Contact me
886-E