The Barcelona City Council’s non-permanent commission on the regulation of rents has presented its conclusions after four sessions in which some thirty speakers, including some international ones, have participated. These sessions were participated by representatives of proprietors, tenants’ organisations, professional associations and experts on the matter. The four sessions, which began in March 2020, discussed various aspects related with the regulation of rent prices: the situation of housing policies, international experiences, the regulatory framework and the possible effects of the regulation of rents. All the participating political groups acknowledged the quality and variety of the information provided by the experts and the knowledge the commission has generated.
In the last session, the conclusions were presented and were approved with the favourable vote of the four political groups who attended all the sessions: Barcelona en Comú, Partit Socialista de Catalunya, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and Junts per Catalunya. A notable conclusion is the agreement on the need to regulate rents. The political formations coincided on the fact that at this moment the debate is not on whether rents have to be regulated but how this has to be done. They also declared that this regulation cannot be seen as an extravagant measure, since the international experiences heard during the session demonstrate that it is a common practice in many cities and countries.
Regarding the method of regulating rents, it has been clearly seen that formulas must be sought to prevent or mitigate the negative consequences. It is necessary, therefore, to seek a regulation that protects the tenants and at the same time guarantees the right to a reasonable profit for the proprietors, based on the vision of housing not as a market commodity but as a fundamental right. In order for these two conditions to be accomplished, it was concluded that this regulation would have to be accompanied by clear indicators which analyse how it is operating, and it would have to be updated regularly to adapt to the current circumstances. It would also have to be accompanied by complementary measures such as subsidies for rehabilitation or tax incentives. This would prevent some of the risks indicated by the experts which can derive from the regulation of rents, such as the expansion of the black market or the deterioration of the housing stock.
It has also been made clear that the regulation of rents is only one measure within a housing system which has to be coherent. To guarantee the right to a decent home for everyone, other measures are needed, such as increased investment or the creation of a public housing stock of quality.
Bold housing policies
The rental market of Barcelona and its metropolitan area is now suffering considerable tension, with families now dedicating an average of 40% of their incomes to paying the rent, when this percentage should be around 30%. This situation has not come about by chance: it is the result of many years of policies that have sought profits for speculation instead of benefits for citizens, in the words of the Councillor for Housing and Rehabilitation, Lucía Martín. It has become evident, therefore, that what are required are bold housing policies on the part of all the institutions, including the municipal institutions which until the year 2011 had remained on the sidelines, as was recalled by the Councillor of Junts per Catalunya, Neus Munté.
An essential point for drawing up these policies is to consider housing as a right and not a commodity. As has been explained by the Councillor of the ERC municipal group, Eva Baró, the experts who participated in the various sessions advocated a change of paradigm in regard to the right to housing, which has to be implemented taking into account not only the benefit that can be obtained but also its social function – that is, as a human right. In the words of the Councillor of the PSC, Joan Ramon Riera, we have to go beyond solving the problem of access to a home and work to create homes where families can take root and develop a life project. Within this change of paradigm, it must be pointed out that, precisely while the commission was in motion, the Parliament of Catalonia passed a law on regulation of rents.