The Generalitat, through the Conselleria de Territori, has started the process to declare 140 Catalan municipalities as stressed areas. With this, you will be able to apply the rent limitation provided for in the Housing Law, approved in May but whose development has been left up in the air with the 23-J elections. Those mentioned include all the capitals: Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona and Girona. A large part is concentrated in the metropolitan area of Barcelona or its province.
For a municipality to declare itself stressed, the average cost of rent, mortgage, basic expenses and supplies must exceed 30% of average income; or that the rental or purchase price has risen in the last five years more than three points above inflation in the autonomous region.
Applying the Housing Law, the rent of the new contracts may not exceed that of the current contract during the previous five years. If it is a home owned by a large holder, it cannot exceed the reference price index established by the INE. A large holder is defined as a natural or legal person who has more than 10 properties for residential use or with a surface area of more than 1,500 square meters for residential use. There is the possibility of reducing the limit to 5 properties, something that the Generalitat studies if necessary. Small owners, for their part, will have tax incentives in exchange for freezing prices or reducing them.
The Government understands that in these municipalities there is a "special risk of insufficient supply of affordable housing." The regional councilor for Territories, Ester Capella, stated in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio that they intend to limit rental prices to prevent them from growing "excessively". In some cases the effort exceeds 50%, she has pointed out with Barcelona as an example.
According to a recent study by the Chamber of Property based on official data, municipalities such as Barcelona, Sabadell or Santa Coloma, included in the list, do not meet the requirements.
The law has not been without controversy. Catalonia is one of the autonomies that is most in favor of the measure, with the communities of the PP against it and the promise of the popular ones to knock it down if they come to power.
The declaration of a stressed area will be valid for three years, extendable annually. Territori has published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC) the public information announcement of the process, with the criteria used to define them as stressed. Now a period of 20 days is opened so that administrations, entities and individuals can present allegations. At the end of this period, the allegations will be resolved and the final resolution will be transferred to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, which must give the final approval.
The final list somewhat reduces the first 163 municipalities that were listed as potential stressed areas. 6.2 million people live in these areas, equivalent to 80.6% of the Catalan population.
This is the complete list of municipalities:
