The Parliament of Catalonia approved this Thursday to regulate seasonal rentals for the first time, a formula adopted by thousands of landlords in recent years to not apply the Housing Law. The bill endorsed by the Catalan Chamber contemplates that these leases are also subject to caps on price increases, as are the rest of rental contracts for habitual residence in most Catalan cities.
The regulation of seasonal rentals and room rentals was included in a broader bill, with urgent measures regarding housing and urban planning. The part that affects these monthly leases, agreed upon by PSC, ERC, Comuns and CUP, has gone ahead with the vote of these four parliamentary groups.
Junts has endorsed the entire text, but has rejected the articles that concern seasonal rentals. PP, Vox and Aliança have voted against. The popular parties have also announced that they will present an appeal of unconstitutionality against the law.
With the entry into force of the new regulations, both seasonal rentals and room rentals will be subject to the same limit on price increases as other rentals of habitual residence, as provided for in the Housing Law. Only temporary rental contracts that prove to be for recreational, tourist or vacation uses will be excluded from this regulation.
In this way, Catalonia is ahead of the different administrations that are preparing their own laws and regulations to prevent the flight of conventional seasonal rentals, which in cities like Barcelona already account for between 20 and 30% of new contracts. For example, the Congress of Deputies, with a proposal initially drafted by the Tenants’ Union. Or the Barcelona City Council, which committed to the Communes to stop these rents through a modification of the General Metropolitan Plan.
In its objective of pursuing seasonal rentals as a formula to raise rental prices, what the bill approved in Parliament does is subject a part of these monthly rentals to the rules that affect rentals of habitual residence. In this way, any rental contract, regardless of its duration, is considered permanent housing. This affects rentals for professional reasons, studies, medical issues or works. Only tourist or recreational reasons are excluded.
The regulations also require that temporary rental contracts must document this short duration, as well as provide a deposit at the Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl). Furthermore, the text provides that in the event of an extension of one of these temporary contracts, or the signing of a new contract, it will automatically be considered a habitual residence if the tenant does not prove the cause of this seasonality and that he or she has a permanent residence elsewhere.
In the case of room rentals, also an upward trend among those landlords who sought to continue raising rental prices, the bill establishes that these contracts must also respect the regulations regarding rentals for residential housing. Therefore, the sum of the rents agreed for each room cannot exceed the limit established for that apartment within the stressed market area.
Endorsed by the Council of Statutory Guarantees – which Junts and the PP attended –, the bill includes a broad package of measures to promote housing construction and tackle the price crisis. Among them, the expansion to exercise the public purchase of housing or the extension of the qualifications for social housing in stressed areas stand out.
Source: www.eldiario.es
