The Full Council has approved the proposal to declare Barcelona as an area with a tense housing market and will be able to regulate rents for five years. The measure should lead to a 5% reduction in prices linked to the Catalan government’s rent index and also includes homes with over 150 square metres of floor space. Over 30% of people in Barcelona live in rented properties, one of the highest figures for cities in the Spanish state.
To declare the municipality a tense housing market, the city must meet any of the three requisites set out in the Catalan law, which it does by far:
- Above-average increase in prices: in the case of the city, some 31% between 2015 and 2020, the same as in Catalonia.
- Average household spending on rents exceeding 30% of income: on average, rent payments account for 49% of household spending in the city.
- Increase in rents greater than the inflation rate (IPC) for recent year, which stands at 4.6%
The reference price when it comes to signing a new rent contract will be lower than the prices of the previous contract and 95% (thanks to the tense market declaration) of the Catalan government’s reference price index.
The measure will apply from November, once Act 11/2020 has been in force for a year, and remain in place for five years.
Boost for more affordable rent
Work is currently in progress or about to start on 2,300 publicly owned homes in the city, 80% of which will be used for social and affordable housing.
Other measures have also been taken, such as the approval for the move to reserve 30% of new flats and major renovations to protected housing.