The Asval homeowners' association arrives in Barcelona: "Owners and tenants share a common interest"

BarcelonaThe Association of Rental Property Owners (Asval) announced on Tuesday the creation of a permanent commission in Catalonia. During the presentation, Asval asserted that they need greater legal certainty and a more ""Clear, stable, and predictable." In fact, the association's new delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Muñoz, has asserted that this lack of legal certainty is what, in many cases, leads to "conflict" between landlords and tenants. "Landlords and tenants share a common interest: that the system works," Muñoz affirmed. "Without landlords, there is no supply; without tenants, there is no one to request housing."

Based on this premise, the delegate in Catalonia has called for a cross-party agreement among the various political actors to get to work on the issue. "We don't see housing as an ideological issue," he stated. He expressed a similar sentiment. Cristina Vallejo, dean of the Barcelona Bar Association, has asserted that the situation requires "a national pact where political forces set aside their ideologies." Vallejo also called for data-driven decision-making and urged that positions like those of Asval take on "special relevance" in Catalonia due to the "overregulation that exists." The association's president, Helena Beunza, has argued that in areas such as housing,The solutions must be decided "from the territory itself," and thus the new permanent commission in Catalonia has been established..

Accessibility to rental

Asval's presentation was accompanied by a report on the Catalan market prepared by Josep Oliver, professor emeritus of the Department of Applied Economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and professor in the same department from 1994 to 2016, explained that while the data shows a "slight improvement" in rental affordability in the country, it is necessary to analyze the situation by income level. According to the data presented, the average rent is too high for the poorest people, while those with more income have greater flexibility. Specifically, as the professor explained, the lowest-income third of the population spends 43% of their income on rent; the wealthiest 33%, on the other hand, spends only 19%. According to established standards, the equilibrium is considered to be when tenants pay 30% of their income on rent. "A more detailed analysis of the data is needed," Oliver concluded.

The professor also denounced a "frightening imbalance between the supply and demand for rental housing." As he explained, in recent years, 600,000 new people have arrived in Catalonia compared to only 70,000 new homes built. "Faced with this surge in demand, there has been no corresponding increase in supply. The government has made a great effort, but it alone cannot meet the demand," Oliver stated. He also added that nowadays "Approximately 58% of rental properties are occupied by someone who was not born in Spain, and this trend will not stop. He also asserted that, despite our focus on the situation of young people, single-person households, immigrant families, and those headed by someone aged 50 or over are the most disadvantaged in the market. "The data speaks for itself," the professor concluded, adding that if there is a sector we should be concerned about, it is not the one "we are currently focusing on."