The end of the 2025 financial year has brought with it multiple legislative reforms of great complexity and impact in the field of housing and urban planning.
The main one is Law 11/2025 of 29 December of the Generalitat, which not only redefines temporary and room rentals (which had become the main activity of housing rental) but also gives the Administration new powers of supervision and control. The Law will certainly be subject to an appeal of unconstitutionality. However, as this appeal will not be lodged by the Central Government (they are the same political party), there will be no suspension of its effects. In other words, the entire content of this law will be in force as of 1 January 2026, with all its consequences.
Between 80% and 90% of the Catalan population lives in so-called housing stressed areas. This law therefore affects some 8 million people.
Here are the key issues that will mark real estate practice in 2026.
1. The prior filter of constitutionality of Law 11/2025 of 29 December: the opinion of the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (Statutory Guarantees Council).
Before its definitive approval, the Draft Law was submitted to the examination of the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (CGE) at the request of various parliamentary groups (Opinion 5/2025).
- General Assessment: The CGE said that most of the precepts were in accordance with the Constitution and the Statute, considering that the Generalitat legitimately exercises its exclusive competence in housing (art. 137 EAC) to combat the housing deficit.
- Seasonal Leases and Rooms: The Council considered that the regulation of these modalities does not violate state legislation (LAU), as it does not modify the nature of the contract, but rather establishes administrative measures to avoid fraud in the application of rent limits.
- Proportionality: The Opinion warned of the need to balance these measures with the right to property, validating the “social function” of housing as a basis for the restrictions imposed.
2. Seasonal Leases and Room Rentals
Law 11/2025 aims to prevent circumvention of rent caps in stressed areas:
- Seasonal: The lease is presumed to be for permanent housing if the reason for its temporary nature (holidays only) and the tenant’s permanent residence elsewhere are not proven and documented in the contract. Temporary occupancy for study, work, medical care, etc. is NOT permitted and the usual rental rules apply. These contracts must now comply with the rules on deposits and rent increases set out in the LAU. It will be necessary to deposit the contract with proof of temporary occupancy with INCASOL, together with the deposit.
- Rooms: The splitting of rents is prohibited. The sum of the rents of the rooms may not exceed the maximum price that would correspond to the unitary rent of the whole dwelling according to the reference index.
3. The New Body of Housing Inspectors: Nature and Powers
The law creates and comprehensively regulates the figure of the Housing Inspectors, increasing their coercive capacity:
- Nature: Inspectors have the status of agents of the authority. Their reports enjoy presumption of certainty and veracity for evidentiary purposes.
- Supervisory Powers: They are empowered to investigate alleged infringements, demand the exhibition of any relevant documentation and adopt emergency precautionary measures in case of risk.
- Functions: In addition to direct inspection, they can formally require developers and owners to carry out repair or reconstruction works under threat of sanction.
- The instruments with which the administration is equipped are very powerful. The presumption of veracity of what Housing Inspectors say is a very powerful tool. This means, among other things, that the burden of proof is reversed. In other words, it will be the person under investigation who will have to prove that what the Inspector says is not correct or not true, which is always much more complicated.
4. Reform and Extension of the Official Protection Housing (VPO)
Law 18/2007 on Housing is modified to protect the subsidised housing stock:
- Permanent validity: In municipalities declared as stressed areas, the classification of VPO will remain in force for as long as the declaration of stressed area lasts.
- Extension of the Regime: Homes classified before Law 11/2025 that are located in stressed areas maintain their maximum prices, but the new regime of validity of the classification is applied to them, making it very difficult for them to be disqualified.
- Successive Transmissions: A new pricing system is established for second sales based on the variation of the CPI on the price of the original deed.
5. The Generalitat’s right of pre-emptive acquisition (pre-emptive right of first refusal).
The Administration clarifies its right to ‘buy first’. This right was created in a previous law, Decree Law 2/2025, and is now clarified:
- Large Holders: The Generalitat may exercise the right of first refusal and repurchase on any transfer of housing in a tense area carried out by a large legal entity holder.
- New homes: The sale of homes within one year of obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy is not subject to the right of first refusal. This means that after one year, it is subject to this right.
- Sales within the same group: Sales between companies in the same group are also not subject to this right.
6. Judicial proceedings affecting housing: suspension of evictions until 2026.
In parallel, the state RDL 16/2025 extends the so-called “social shield”. This emergency legislation of the Government will have to be ratified by the Congress of Deputies, which is not evident to happen at the date of writing this briefing note.
Its scope:
- Suspension: eviction proceedings for non-payment of rent for vulnerable households are suspended until 31 December 2026.
- Compensation: The deadline is opened until 31 January 2027 for affected landlords to request financial compensation from the competent administration.
7. Sanctioning Procedure in the Town Planning Law
Technical changes are introduced to provide legal certainty to town planning discipline:
- Expiry: the maximum period for resolving proceedings for the protection of urban planning legality is set at 18 months.
8. New Barcelona Ordinance on the right of first refusal and withdrawal (December 2025)
The Ordinance regulating pre-emptive acquisition rights in favour of the City Council has been approved. This already existed and had been applied since 2018 under the General Metropolitan Plan, but is now developed in detail.
- Scope: The entire municipality of Barcelona is delimited as an area of pre-emption.
- Properties affected: Entire multi-family buildings, dwellings in rehabilitation areas, empty dwellings, and transfers of shares in companies with real estate assets.
- The possibility of joint purchase with occupants or entities is established, which is one of the most relevant technical novelties of the ordinance. In practice, the Ordinance reintroduces through administrative channels the tenant’s right of withdrawal, a right that is not available in civil channels when the owner sells all the entities of a property or all the entities he has in that property.
- Procedure: Obligation to give reliable notification of any intention to sell. The Town Council has a period of 2 months for the pre-emption and 3 months for the withdrawal (in case of lack of notification or different conditions).
- Census: A public register of subject properties is created, with declaratory effects.
- Prioritisation: Preference will be given to the acquisition of properties with more than 10 dwellings, properties with tenants in vulnerable situations, single-parent families or in areas with a high risk of gentrification.
We are facing a legislative scenario that requires preventive advice and great care to avoid situations that could lead to non-compliance and sanctions. The sanctions of the Housing Law for cases in which the rent is higher than the index can be more than €90,000.
This note is for information purposes only. We are at your disposal for specific advice on your situation.
