Law 11/2025 of Catalonia: new measures on housing, urban planning and the rental market

Law 11/2025, of 29 December, on measures in the field of housing and urban planning, operates primarily along three axes: the delimitation of the legal regime applicable to temporary leases and room rentals, the establishment of a supervisory body for the rental market, and the extension of public intervention instruments in stressed residential market zones.

These measures respond to the notable increase in short-term contractual arrangements — seasonal contracts and room rental agreements — experienced in recent years in the Catalan real estate sector, against a backdrop of residential market evolution and the application of rent containment measures in stressed residential market zones.

Contractual regulation and institutional supervision

Against this backdrop, Law 11/2025 clarifies the legal regime applicable to these contractual modalities, acting primarily through the amendment of Law 18/2007, of 28 December, on the right to housing, known as the Housing Act, and reinforces public intervention mechanisms in areas declared as stressed residential market zones.

With regard to contractual guarantees, Law 11/2025 introduces the concept of a "fraudulent contract", understood as a contract which, connected to the notion of indirect discrimination, conceals a purpose different from that declared, with the aim of preventing contractual practices that infringe consumers' rights or distort the contractual balance in the housing sphere.

At the institutional level, article 45 bis is introduced into the Housing Act, whereby the Housing Lease Contract Supervisory Commission  is established, with functions of coordination, supervision and oversight of digital platforms, real estate portals and other spaces through which rental housing and tourist-use dwelling offers are disseminated, with the objective of ensuring compliance with the applicable regulatory framework.

Temporary lease provisions

As regards the delimitation of tenancy modalities, Law 11/2025 redefines the boundary between "permanent residential" and "seasonal" leases through the incorporation of article 66 bis into the Housing Act. This provision defines a permanent residential lease as one that is intended to satisfy the tenant's housing needs, regardless of its duration, expressly excluding recreational or tourist uses and holiday periods – whether summer or any other – a circumstance which, where applicable, must be expressly recorded in the contract.

It further establishes that certain temporary leases (entered into for professional, employment, academic, medical care or other provisional reasons, among others) shall be subject, in key matters – security deposit and guarantees, rent limitation and updating, improvements and expenses – to the rules governing permanent residential leases where, in practice, there is no purpose other than the satisfaction of a housing need.

Furthermore, this regime extends equally to lease agreements in which a duration is specified but no temporary purpose is stated. In such cases, documentary evidence of the temporary nature of the tenancy is required, together with its deposit alongside the security deposit in the relevant register; and a clear rule is introduced: where no use other than residential is evidenced, it shall be presumed that the purpose is permanent residential occupation.

Closely connected to this, Law 11/2025 introduces provisions aimed at preventing the chaining of contracts – that is, situations in which, through successive extensions or the entering into of new contracts, temporariness is artificially perpetuated in order to circumvent the permanent residential tenancy regime.

Accordingly, should a seasonal lease be extended without duly evidencing the persistence of the cause justifying the temporary nature, or should a new contract be entered into with the same tenant in respect of the same dwelling without such evidence, the contract shall be subject to the permanent residential tenancy regime.

Moreover, in the event of an extension for evidenced reasons, where the tenant has not expressly evidenced the cause of the temporary nature and their habitual residence elsewhere, the permanent residential tenancy regime shall apply – including the statutory minimum duration and the extension regime – with retroactive effect from the date on which the original contract was executed.

Room-by-room lettings 

In the area of room-by-room lettings, Law 11/2025 incorporates article 66 ter into the Housing Act, regulating this modality and requiring compliance with the surface area standards per person and the maximum occupancy threshold established by sector-specific regulations and specified in the certificate of habitability. The law further clarifies that the fragmentation of use – whether physical or contractual – does not alter the nature of the residential lease nor permit circumvention of the applicable legal regime.

In particular, in stressed residential market zones, the aggregate of rents under several simultaneous contracts in respect of the same dwelling may not exceed the maximum rent applicable to the unitary letting of that dwelling.

Rights of first refusal and pre-emption

Beyond the tenancy regulatory framework, article 6 of Law 11/2025 amends Legislative Decree 1/2015 on extraordinary and urgent measures for the mobilisation of dwellings arising from mortgage enforcement proceedings, with a view to extending the scope of the Generalitat's rights of first refusal and pre-emption in stressed residential market zones.

The extension is particularly significant with respect to transactions involving large holders that are legal entities registered in the Register of Large Dwelling Holders. The following are excluded from this regime:

• Transfers of newly built or substantially refurbished dwellings formalised within one year from the grant of the certificate of habitability.
• Transfers between companies belonging to the same corporate group that share the same corporate purpose or carry out a similar real estate activity, provided it concerns the first transfer of a new development.
• Acquisitions by natural persons satisfying the following conditions: registration in the Register of Applicants for Subsidised Housing; commitment to apply, within one month of acquisition, for the classification of the dwelling as general-regime subsidised housing or equivalent classification on a permanent basis; and use as habitual residence for a minimum period of 10 years.

Subsidised housing adjustments

To complete the regulatory framework, article 8 of Law 11/2025 introduces adjustments to the subsidised housing regime through the amendment of Legislative Decree 17/2019 on urgent measures to improve access to housing, with particular bearing on its interaction with stressed residential market zones.

In essence, this amendment clarifies the transitional regime applicable to subsidised dwellings already classified prior to its entry into force, maintaining as a general rule the continued validity of the classification and the maximum sale prices and rents in accordance with the regime in force at the time of classification, save in respect of dwellings forming part of a public land and housing portfolio.

In the case of subsidised dwellings located in stressed residential market zones, the continuity of the classification is reinforced and any declassification is tied to the initiative of the competent administration in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Act (declassification may only occur at the initiative of the administration itself, pursuant to article 79.3 of Law 18/2007).

Osborne Clarke comment

Law 11/2025 establishes a more detailed regulatory framework for the various tenancy modalities existing in the market. In practice, the law introduces documentation and evidencing requirements for seasonal and room-by-room lettings; additionally, the manner in which these modalities are offered and marketed – including platforms and spaces through which rental and tourist-use housing offers are disseminated – will be subject to supervision by the Commission.

Furthermore, in stressed residential market zones, public intervention instruments – rights of first refusal, pre-emption, and a more robust subsidised housing framework – are reinforced and may significantly condition both transactions and exploitation strategies.

The overall result is a regulatory environment in which both contracting and marketing require a higher degree of control and in which administrative intervention assumes greater prominence.