Mark Stücklin
Catalonia’s seasonal / mid-term rental Decree Law lasted just 30 days – less time than a lettuce that outlived Liz Truss’s UK premiership of 49 days – but it still managed to shrink the rental market by almost half.
The Catalan Decree Law of the 24th of April that imposed rent controls and other restrictions on all seasonal / mid-term rentals like student accommodation (but exempted holiday-homes) only lasted 30 days in force but managed to reduce the supply of homes advertised for rent in Barcelona by 42% in that short period.
The Decree Law was introduced by the regional government (Govern) in the hands of the hard-left Catalan separatist ERC party just before the 12 May regional elections that ended in a drubbing for ERC. To remain in force beyond 30 days the Decree Law had to be approved by a parliamentary committee that rejected it last Thursday 23rd of May, so ERC’s seasonal rental regulations are now null and void.
Why did ERC introduce seasonal rental regulations just before local elections? One reason is because, having just destroyed the long-term rental market with rent controls that drove landlords en masse into seasonal rentals (called temporada in Spanish), ERC was playing Whac-A-Mole. The other reason is electioneering.
There is an interesting parallel between this Decree Law and the Housing Law that the national government in Madrid, a coalition between Socialists and the extreme Left Sumar party (represented at the time by the Podemos party), passed just before municipal elections in 2023. In both cases it looks like the legislation was timed to win votes in the coming elections, and in both cases it failed, with the ruling party doing badly in the subsequent elections (see Snap General Election called after controversial Housing Law fails to woo voters).
Whilst ERC’s temporada Decree Law was in force in Catalonia, the supply of homes advertised for rent in Barcelona at Spain’s biggest property portal Idealista slumped from 4,567 on the 24th of April to 2,660 on the 23rd of May, a decline of 42pc in the number of homes available to rent in the Catalan capital. Since the Decree Law expired on Thursday the supply has rebound to 3,667 at the time of writing, but that’s still 20pc lower than when the Decree Law was introduced.
Also whilst the temporada Decree Law was in force, most adverts were for ‘holiday homes’ that were exempt from price controls. So it was easier to find a ‘holiday-home’ in the Catalan capital than a long-term rental. If that’s the consequence of your housing policy, you shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near housing policy.
Where are we now? With mid-term rentals recovering, but less long-term rental homes available in Catalonia than ever before. Rent controls in action!
