A new law coming into effect on March 13 could dramatically reduce the amount of rent that tenants pay in Barcelona, but only for new rental contracts – or if the person that owns the property has more than four properties in the country.
At the end of February, the government published a handy calculator that anyone can use to check the fair amount of rent that they should be paying for the property in which they are living. The calculator can be accessed here.
A quick play around with the new tool reveals that landlords are charging far too much for many properties, based on the government’s current reference price index. For example, the tenants of a three-bedroom house in a desirable area of Barcelona were found to be paying €700 more than the government recommends.
The introduction of this new law, therefore, looks likely to have a fairly significant impact on rental prices.
“The introduction of law is very good news for renters,” says Carme Arcarazo, a spokesperson for the Tenants’ Union of Catalonia, which has been lobbying for a change in the law. “People really suffer a lot in this country, and on average pay half of what they earn. For the first time, there’s going to be a law preventing [sharp rent rises].”
The law doesn’t apply to everyone, however.
If you are already renting a property, then the landlord is under no obligation to lower the rental price in line with government recommendations – unless he or she owns more than four properties (in which case you are entitled to ask for a discount on the rent).
So be very careful if renting any new property over the next couple of weeks, before the new law comes into effect, since landlords may try to lock tenants into a higher rate before the new law enters into force.
Also for now this law only applies to rental contracts with a duration longer than 11 months. Arcarazo says that this is a worrying loophole that needs to be urgently closed. She says that if it isn’t landlords may simply switch their contracts to shorter-duration ones and continue charging tenants an excessive amount of rent.
“A lot of digital nomads and expats do have temporary contracts that do not follow these new regulations. If the government does not also regulate these seasonal contracts, then many more landlords are going to prefer to offer these contracts than standard ones,” says Arcarazo.
This could actually have a detrimental effect on Barcelona’s housing market, she says. The Tenants’ Union is maintaining pressure on the government until this law is changed, and Arcarazo hopes that there will be some positive steps in this direction over the coming months.
Anyone looking to rent a house or apartment in Barcelona should make sure that they check the rental calculator before negotiating any contract – and push back on any rental fee that seems too high.
With additional reporting by Violetta Polese.
