New measures to tackle the housing crisis and increase housing supply

The decree law approved by the Generalitat de Catalunya on 7th November, which regulates tourist housing, will be applied in a number of Catalan municipalities with problems of access to housing, in order to eliminate the 10,101 tourist apartments that have the corresponding authorisation to carry out this activity in the city. The aim of this measure is to ensure that as many apartments as possible are used for residential and non-tourist purposes, thus increasing the city’s housing stock.

This decree law will be applied in its full scope and will not promote a new urban planning approach that declares the tourist use of dwellings compatible with that of habitual and permanent residence and, as foreseen, five years after its entry into force, all tourist apartments in the city will disappear and be prohibited. By November 2028, there will be no tourist apartments in Barcelona.

In addition, the Special Urban Plan for Tourist Accommodation (PEUAT), which since 2017 has regulated the implementation of all types of tourist accommodation establishments, will continue to carry out controls once all the tourist apartments have disappeared. Since 2016, around 10,500 sanctions and 9,700 cease and desist orders have been issued, and the 6,000 monthly apartment advertisements have been reduced to between 300 and 400, which the municipal inspection team detects and requires the platforms to immediately deactivate. In addition, up to 3,473 apartments that had been used for illegal tourist activities were returned to normal use.

A real and effective measure of 30% protected housing

At the same time, work is underway to make the 30% social housing reserve measure effective in new developments and major renovations, so that the private sector can take real responsibility for promoting affordable housing in Barcelona. Since its approval in 2018, only 93 homes have been added to residential parks in accordance with the licences granted, of which only eight have been completed.

The new proposal, which will now begin to work with the political groups, aims to maintain what was already provided for in the 2018 MPGM and to extend it to new options for private developers to make the 30% effective, on the one hand by transferring the protected homes to other plots, and on the other hand by opening up the possibility of a social promoter being in charge of the execution of these homes. The reform of the 30% reserve also aims to facilitate the renovation of houses, increase their number and thus guarantee the quality of the housing stock.

It also maintains the City Council’s right of first refusal for the purchase of the resulting homes. Currently, the City Council has 5,000 homes in some stage of execution, which will become more than 3,300 homes delivered under this mandate. These homes are the result of both the direct promotion of the Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation (IMHAB) and the alliance with third parties such as non-profit organisations, the metropolitan operator HMB or Incasòl.