List of caps on home rental prices in Spain published in attempt to control overheated areas

Restrictions will only apply if a region identifies an area as having inflated prices and affect larger landlords or new rentals

Amparo Estrada

Madrid

Friday, 1 March 2024, 16:16

The government has published an online list or index of ideal maximum rents for homes across most of Spain in an attempt to control rental prices and stop, what it believes, is an overheated market in many areas.

The index draws on data from landlords' tax returns as a guide and is meant as a tool for tenants to see if the price they are being charged is out of line with the rest of their area - https://serpavi.mivau.gob.es/.

To be compulsorily applied by law, a regional government must first declare it has an area with overheated housing costs and present an action plan to try to solve the situation. Although, for now, few regions look likely to do this. In mid-March the index will be applied for the first time in parts of Catalonia that have been declared "a stressed area".

Secretary of State for Housing David Lucas called on more regions to declare overheated areas in order to control speculation, adding that in Madrid, for example, the difference between rents being asked on property websites compared to the figures on the new index are up to 60 per cent. He also gave examples in Valencia or Barcelona.

In overheated areas, the rental contracts of large landlords (owners of more than ten dwellings, or five if a region says so) and of homes that are just going on the rental market cannot have a price higher than that set by the reference index. Those restrictions will not apply to smaller landlords.

The FAI federation of real estate associations criticised the capping index, saying it will create "more fear among landlords, which will exacerbate the flight of landlords from the market and further reduce supply".

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