Since its enactment about a year ago, the new Law 12/2023 on the Right to Housing has brought about significant changes that affect both owners and tenants. Whenever a law is amended, it inevitably raises questions, especially with reforms of this magnitude. In addition, the implementation of the reference index for the regulation of rental prices further complicates matters.
For this reason, Barcelona City Council has organised training sessions to explain the most important aspects of renting in Barcelona. This Monday, April the 8th, the session, presented by the architect and communicator Núria Moliner, was aimed at housing professionals, who were able to learn first-hand about legislative updates and deal with specific cases of application. This initiative aims to improve the services offered by the Housing Offices of Barcelona City Council.
The legal developments of Law 12/2023 on the right to housing
Lawyers Pablo Feu and Elga Molina explained the specific changes brought about by the new regulations.
Feu began by emphasising that Law 12/2023 contains many interpretations “that do not have an easy solution” and that Catalan housing law has had to adapt to this fundamental state law (for example, regarding the definition of ‘owner of multiple properties’). He also highlighted the difficulty of certifying whether an owner is a multiple-property owner and whether a tenant is in a vulnerable situation.
For her part, Molina focused on doubts about the rent cap, which is not clearly defined in the law, and argued that clarifying it was crucial to determining whether the new regulations should be applied. She also raised other questions that do not have easy answers.
The expert clarified that an owner of multiple properties does not necessarily have to have more than 10 apartments in the same city; all properties located in one of the 140 municipalities declared as a stressed market area are counted.
Finally, she emphasised the importance of having the current contract at hand when renewing to ensure that the new contract does not include any additional fees or expenses prohibited by Law 12/2023.
Examples of specific cases
In the final part of the session, Maria Romero and Anna Vázquez, lawyers from the Housing Offices of Nou Barris and Sant Andreu respectively, discussed and illustrated some of the real cases they are working on and the procedures they follow.