Sitges is among the 140 municipalities where rent prices are intended to be limited. Consult the map:
In the 140 designated municipalities identified as areas of tension in terms of housing access, 6.2 million people live, representing 80.6% of the total population of Catalonia.
The government has identified 140 municipalities as areas of tension in terms of housing access, where measures will be implemented to limit rent prices, as provided by the state housing law, which has been in effect since May 26. The list was published this Thursday in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat, the DOGC.
These municipalities are home to 6.2 million people, representing 80.6% of the total population of Catalonia.
They are mainly concentrated in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and along the coast of the country. Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, and Lleida are on the list of cities where there is a particular risk of insufficient affordable housing supply.
Here is the map of the 140 municipalities where rent prices are intended to be limited:
When will the limits be implemented? There is now a 20-day period for administrations, entities, and individuals to submit objections.
Once this period is over, the received objections will be addressed, and the final resolution will be notified to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda, who will ultimately approve them.
How were these populations chosen? The law sets two possible requirements. Firstly, the average burden of rental or mortgage costs in the personal budget or household unit, plus basic expenses and supplies, exceeds 30% of the average income or median income of households.
The other requirement is that the rental or purchase price of housing has experienced, in the five years prior to the declaration as a tense housing market area, a cumulative growth percentage of at least three percentage points above the cumulative growth of the CPI.
How will rent prices be limited in these populations? In the 140 municipalities included in the list, the rent for new contracts cannot exceed the price of the previous contract in the last five years, adjusted for inflation.
Furthermore, in the case of large landlords, the rent cannot exceed the reference index for rental prices.
What is considered a large landlord? The document published this Thursday includes the general definition of a large landlord as an individual or legal entity owning more than 10 urban residential properties or a built area of more than 1,500 m² for residential use, excluding garages and storage rooms.
The law also allows narrowing it down to holders of five or more properties, a possibility that the Department of Territory will study.
The three main owners of rental properties in Catalonia are CaixaBank and the investment funds Cerberus and Blackstone. Together, they own more than 10,500 apartments, according to research by the Civio Foundation, based on official data from Incasòl.
In this changing landscape, do not hesitate to contact Living Sitges for advice on what suits you best in the new real estate market situation.
Article by Living Sitges Real Estate.