Pere Aragonès’ executive begins the procedure to determine stressed residential market areas in those towns with serious difficulties in access to housing

Catalonia’s Generalitat government is to begin preparatory procedures today to determine the areas of Catalonia where rent-caps are to be applied as provided by the Spanish Law for the Right to Housing. Through a resolution by the Secretary for Housing, the Executive has begun the preliminary phase required to determine the stressed residential markets in those territories where there is a risk of insufficient supply of affordable housing, and thus the areas where the rent-control regulations will apply.

In addition, the Generalitat has sent a letter to Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda in order to formalise the Catalan Housing Rental Price Index, currently updated and in fully operational, an indispensable indicator to apply the rent controls provided for by the law.

“One of the objectives of this Government is for the right to housing to be a reality for all Catalans, regardless of where they live, and we will use all the tools at our disposal”, said the Executive’s spokeswoman Patrícia Plaja in a press conference, recalling that the process to determine the stressed zones based on Catalan law had already begun, but had been halted by the Spanish government’s appeal before the Constitutional Court: “Unfortunately, Catalonia’s progress is often held back because it is part of the Spanish state”, she said.

The new law, now in force for 12 days, provides that the administrations responsible for housing – in this case the Generalitat – can determine stressed residential market areas. It also establishes that the determination must be preceded by a preparatory procedure to gather information on the situation of the residential market in such areas. That is the procedure that has now begun.

As laid out in the regulations, information is collected in a substantiating report on the deficiencies or inadequacies of the housing market in the area. Once conveyed to the ministry, the determinations will be valid for three years, renewable in subsequent years by repeating the same procedure. The determination must also include the drafting of a specific plan for each area proposing corrective measures and an implementation schedule.