In February of this year (2024) we published an article about the flourishing of the medium-term rental market in Barcelona and Madrid. This is after the rental laws in Barcelona which imposed rental restrictions and regulation on apartments rented for 11 months or more (Long-terms). These laws gave motivation to apartment owners to rent their apartments for "mid-terms" (Mid-terms), which resulted in a jump in the number of apartments that were offered for rent only for these periods, thus many apartment owners managed to escape the restrictions that applied to long-term apartment rentals. However, the government of Barcelona understood the loophole and published regulations on 4/24/24 that are important to know and were intended to close the loophole. However, there is a chance that the law will be repealed or changed by Congress and of course we will update you later.
The new laws that came into force on medium-term rentals include price limits (Rent Control) that cannot increase by more than 3% per year. All this is based on the rental cost of the previous year and therefore there is great importance in maintaining the continuity of the rental. Unlike private apartment owners, companies that own more than 5 apartments will have to adjust according to the price list of the rent level published by the government. The law also states that, similar to long-term rentals, real estate agents are prohibited from collecting brokerage fees from tenants (but only from landlords).
However, there is still a small loophole in the law, as the Catalan government has waived the rules on medium-term holiday rentals. Therefore, the lessor's statement regarding the use or the platform on which the apartment is advertised is an essential factor in determining the laws applicable to the rental.
On this occasion, we will detail a little more about the regulations that apply to long-term rentals
About a year ago we published an article about the types of leases in Spain. Long-term rental contracts (over 11 months as mentioned) are valid for 5 years (7 years for companies) and provide stability to the apartment owners. However, the stability is one-sided for the tenants, as they can ask to end the lease after 6 months. Because of the regulatory and legal power that long-term tenants have, many apartment owners prefer to take out rental insurance (at a cost of about 4% per year of the rent) as published in the article we published about rental insurance - which reduces the risk of non-payment.
As mentioned, we will continue to update regarding the developments in the law and future changes.
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