Rental contracts have skyrocketed in Catalonia by 38% in just one year. For the first time, the Generalitat has provided official data on this type of contracts, and what is confirmed in the months following the entry into force of the Housing Law in 140 municipalities (where 80% of Catalans live) is an increase of this formula that seeks to avoid price caps.
The Catalan Land Institute (Incasòl), in charge of registering the deposits for all rentals formalized in Catalonia, recorded a total of 5,970 temporary rental contracts during the third quarter of 2024. This represents 1,629 more than in the same period of the previous year.
To date, the boom of seasonal rentals could be deduced from the offers on real estate portals, where in cities like Barcelona their advertisements have reached more than 50% of the total. However, in terms of signed contracts the percentage is more moderate: in Catalonia they account for one in four.
Seasonal rentals have been in the political and media focus since before the approval of the Housing Law or the regulation of rental prices, valid only in Catalonia. Neighbors and social entities began to report its fraudulent use years ago. Since last March, with the entry into force of the limit on increases in Catalonia, even the Generalitat assured that they were being used to avoid the regulations.
However, its increase does not completely explain the drop in regular rental contracts that has been recorded. In the same period, the reduction in signed leases has been from 23,458 to 19,723, that is, 3,735 less. In this way, the transfer towards seasonal rentals to avoid the law would explain only 43% of this decrease.
After attributing this drop entirely to the flight towards seasonal rentals just three months ago, the Generalitat now attributes it to other factors. Basically, because there is less turnover of tenants in the homes because the contracts are longer (in 2019 they went from three to five or seven years) – since the price limit itself discourages landlords from changing tenants. “The number of current rental contracts increases,” they alleged in a press release. At the same time, they simply attributed the increase in monthly rents to student apartments.
Regarding the regulation of this type of rental, and beyond the fact that its use for habitual residence is already a fraud today, this Thursday the Barcelona City Council announced that it will try to limit them through a modification of the urban planning regulations. This is an agreement between the PSC and the Comuns, who had been demanding this measure, and which will depend on whether ERC definitively says yes.
In addition to the Catalan capital, in the rest of Catalonia the Generalitat has already tried to include these rentals within the regulation. The Government of Pere Aragonès did it a few days after the start of the last regional electoral campaign, but the PSC and Junts knocked it down. Finally, the central government also prepares a registry in which this type of contract must be registered.
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