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Barcelona will be able to set limits on short-term and room rentals
The urban planning subcommittee has approved the amendment that allows these rentals to be regulated in Barcelona. The City Council will be able to set restrictions to protect permanent residential use, including by neighbourhoods or buildings.
In Gràcia, the share of primary residences fell by 8%; in Les Corts, Eixample and Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, the reduction exceeded 5%. This decline is one of the reasons supporting the urban planning change approved by the urban planning subcommittee.
The modification of the Plan General Metropolitano (PGM) allows the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona to regulate seasonal rentals and room rentals. The council will be able to set limits on uses other than primary residence and even prohibit them through future urban planning and municipal ordinances.
The council will be able to act by area
The subcommittee, made up of the Generalitat and the council, gave its approval to the modification at the beginning of November. Initial approval had come in March. It is now up to the municipal government to develop the regulation.
The measures may vary depending on the district, neighbourhood or even the building, with the aim of preserving its residential character. The change modifies articles 276 and 302A of the PGM and distinguishes four uses: primary residence, permanent, temporary and second home. Primary and permanent use will continue to be allowed without restrictions in all areas where residential use is permitted.
The housing minister, Sílvia Paneque, argued that urban planning provides tools to protect the permanent use of housing and the right of citizens to live in their neighbourhoods. In another area of urban management, the ATM awarded EYSA the software for the ZBE in up to 20 municipalities, with a system planned from 2028.
Room rentals are also included in the regulation
When room rentals are permanent, they must guarantee all residents access to the necessary shared spaces and services to meet habitability conditions. For temporary uses, Paneque indicated that they must be justified for work or medical reasons, studies or similar.
The decline in primary residences helps explain the Generalitat's concern: although the housing stock grew by 20.8% in the last 30 years, primary and permanent residences went from representing 86.1% in 1991 to 83% in 2021.
The regulation comes after a municipal agreement
The initiative arose from the agreement that the government of Jaume Collboni reached with the Comuns to secure their support for the fiscal ordinances. When it was initially approved, the deputy mayor for Alcaldía de Urbanismo, Laia Bonet, warned that some tenants seeking a permanent contract can only find seasonal offers.
After the subcommittee's approval, the Barcelona en Comú mayoral candidate, Gerardo Pisarello, called for an immediate ban on seasonal rentals in the city and argued that the council has the tools to do so.