Low minimum rent in Barcelona, ​​by Òscar Gorgues


In recent days we have read in the press some information about the concern of people who are looking for a rental apartment in Barcelona. There is very little supply and many applicants and the questions that arise are: how did we get to this situation again? What good have the housing policies applied in recent years?

As a starting point it can be said that the current offer in Barcelona is below what existed before the declaration of the state of alarm due to covid, at the end of March 2020. Specifically, in the Catalan capital, the portal Idealistic offer half of the homes that it presented at that time.

The state of alarm and the economic turbulence it caused caused groups such as students, displaced workers, emancipated youth and families with limited resources to give up their rental contracts. Many empty homes remained and in a few months the supply of rental homes doubled.

In September 2020 and while the state of alarm was still in force, in Catalonia it was approved the Law 11/2020 rent restraint with the intention of regulating rental prices. This law did not stop the resignations of contracts since the effects of the pandemic were still being suffered. As of January 2021, with the relaxation of the state of alarm and the recovery of the economy, the oversupply began to be absorbed and during the month of April the volume of rentals prior to the pandemic returned. At that point we could expect supply to stabilize and the market to behave as it did before. But it was not like that, the ‘stock’ continued to decline until reaching the current levels that we can define as critical.

In other times of strong demand, the market gave answers by replenishing the ‘stocks’ consumed and investors contributed savings and, therefore, product to the rental market, we can verify this if we review the newspaper library of the evolution of the rental park in Barcelona . This time it was not like that either. The owners seem to have changed their attitude and it is worth reflecting on why they have reached this situation. In Catalonia in general and in Barcelona in particular, rental home owners are small investors who have historically channeled their savings into the real estate sector in the hope of receiving stable income and maintaining the value of their assets. To continue achieving these objectives, a stable legal framework and a balance between the rights of owners and those of tenants would be necessary.

Since 2015, in Catalonia we have been suffering an avalanche of regulations that breaks the proper balance for maintain a stable private rental housing stock. The permissiveness with regard to squatting, the obligation to offer a social rental, the boycotts of evictions and, finally, the regulation of prices has generated a framework of legal and economic insecurity that discourages the entry and even the permanence of investors in the market. And now, in addition, we receive news from Madrid in relation to a new Housing Law that, at the state level, seems to want to replicate the model that in Catalonia has led us to the crisis that we are currently experiencing.

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At the base of the problem we find a serious diagnostic error, which is to believe that the housing problem of the layers of the population with less economic resources It can be solved by regulating the private market and making it provide a solution to an issue that requires the direct involvement of the Administration. Implication that has to work in two lines: on the one hand, the application of public resources to create a social housing park and, on the other hand, generate direct aid for those people who cannot even afford access to social housing.

We must immediately recognize the bottom of the problem and move away from the populist and short-term solutions practiced, that do not attack the structure of the question and that have led us to the current situation of failure. The task is very difficult, and in order to move forward more quickly, it is urgent to have the collaboration of large private sector operators that can contribute experience and capital, but for this it is essential to guarantee a stable legal and economic framework.


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