Registry of major housing owners in Catalonia just around the corner

Catalonia is close to launching its new registry of large housing owners, a move that will tighten controls on landlords with property portfolios that are far from what most people would consider “large.”

The decree regulating the registry is still in public consultation but is expected to be approved before the end of October, according to Sílvia Paneque, the regional housing minister, speaking in Parliament last week.

Who must register?

Under the new framework, any individual or company holding at least five homes in areas officially designated as “strained markets” must register. In the rest of Spain, the threshold rises to ten dwellings or 1,500 m² of residential space (excluding garages and storage units).

In practice, this means that a family that has inherited a few flats, or someone who owns just a small share in five properties, will be treated in law like a global financial institution. Registration is mandatory, and fines will be imposed for failing to comply.

The measure ties into obligations set out under Law 24/2025, which requires these so-called “major owners” (grandes tenedores) to offer social rent or alternative accommodation in cases of non-payment. They are also the ones hit by the 20% hike in transfer tax (ITP) that came into force at the end of June.

Wider powers for the administration

The decree also expands the Generalitat’s right of first refusal and pre-emption (tanteo y retracto) over properties owned by registered landlords in tense market areas. In practice, this gives the administration priority to buy when these homes are sold, even at judicial or administrative auctions.

Notably, the rule doesn’t apply to sales of new homes to individuals for their own use.

Another layer of bureaucracy

The same decree will also regulate the registries of empty homes and occupied dwellings, increasing the Generalitat’s reach into the private housing market.

The government argues this is about “identifying” major owners and mobilising supply. But critics point out that casting anyone with a share in five properties as a major landlord risks deterring investment and penalising small-scale owners, while doing little to address the real shortage of new housing.