The Catalan authorities intend to strengthen their influence on the real estate market by introducing a new, stricter registry that will allow the regional administration to more tightly control large homeowners.
What Happened
Catalonia is preparing to launch a new register of owners of large housing, which will significantly tighten control over landlords and expand the powers of the regional administration in the real estate market. According to regional Housing Minister Silvia Paneke, the decree regulating the registry is under public consultation, but is expected to be approved by the end of October.
Details
Under the new system, any individual or legal entity owning at least five houses in areas officially recognized as "stressed markets" will be required to register. This threshold is noticeably lower than in the rest of Spain, where ten sites are required to register. In practice, this means that even a family that has inherited several apartments, or the owner of a small share in five properties, will be considered a "large owner" with the resulting obligations and the risk of fines for non-compliance with registration.
This measure is directly related to the Law 24/2025, which imposes serious obligations on registered owners. They will be forced to provide social rent or alternative housing in case of non-payment by tenants. In addition, they are already subject to a 20% increase in the property transfer tax.
The decree also expands the rights of the regional government (Generalitat) in the market, giving it the priority right to purchase (tanteo y retracto) real estate owned by registered landlords in areas with a tense market, even at auctions. This rule, however, does not apply to the sale of new housing to private individuals for personal use. Regulation of registers of empty and occupied residential premises is another way to expand the administration's control over the market.
