Mark Stücklin
One year after rent controls were introduced in Barcelona, the data confirms what has long been understood: legally suppressed rents benefit sitting tenants and better-off renters, while locking out everyone else and making access to housing even harder overall.
Rents down—but at what cost?
According to the latest data from INCASOL, the Catalan government’s rental deposit agency, the average rent paid in Barcelona in Q1 2025 was €1,087.23—a year-on-year drop of 8.9% (chart above). Looked at in €/sqm terms, prices fell 3.2% year-on-year to €16.19 per square metre. Proponents of rent controls say these figures show the policy has been a success.
But behind the headline drop in official contract rents lies a less celebratory truth. In the same period, the number of new rental contracts signed in the city collapsed by 23%, down to just 7,615—a record low, and almost 4,000 below the ten-year average. In fact, the volume of new contracts is down 22% compared to ten years ago.
That’s the real story of rent controls in Barcelona: a modest reduction in declared rental prices at the cost of thousands of families unable to find anywhere to live.
A tale of two prices: declared vs. real
While the government parades the 8.9% drop in official rents as proof of success, rental asking prices tell a different story. According to property portal Idealista, asking rents in Barcelona jumped 13.6% over the same period—from €20.77 to €23.60 per square metre per month. The gap between asking prices and declared contract prices is widening at an unprecedented pace—a clear sign that something is amiss. A difference between the two is normal, but the current divergence is unusually large and growing fast, suggesting the official figures no longer reflect the full reality of the rental market.
So yes, rent controls suppress declared contract prices—but not the actual cost of finding a place to live. And even that’s assuming your rent is fully declared, which increasingly it probably isn’t.
Enter the black market
What you won’t hear the government talk about is the inevitable rise of off-the-books deals. When landlords are forced to offer their property at below-market rates, the obvious workaround is to demand part of the rent in cash. That money doesn’t show up in the government’s statistics, which paints a rosier picture than reality.
Fewer homes, tougher odds, and unfair access
Another uncomfortable truth is that rent controls are deeply regressive. If you’re a landlord forced to rent your property below market rates, who are you more likely to rent to? A high-earning, middle-aged civil servant with a permanent contract? Or a young gig economy worker with unstable income? The answer is obvious. So the well-off enjoy reduced rents, while the rest are left to scramble over dwindling supply.
The government argues that reduced churn explains the drop in contracts—that people stay put because of greater security. Maybe, to an extent. But that doesn’t explain why asking prices are surging, nor why so many would-be tenants can’t find anywhere to live.
Housing crisis solved—or worsened?
The rent control lobby, dominated by left-wing politicians in both Barcelona City Hall and the Catalan Parliament, can’t have it both ways. Either rent controls have solved the housing crisis—by reducing demand and lowering prices—or the crisis still exists, in which case the controls have clearly failed.
The truth is harsher: by slashing the supply of available rental properties and distorting the incentives of the market, rent controls have made the crisis worse, not better.
One year on, the numbers are in. And they tell a story of good intentions, bad policy, and painful consequences for the very people the policy was supposed to help.
