Landlords with 5 or more properties will have to limit rents according to index

Catalan authorities announced on Wednesday that landlords with 5 or more properties – down from 10 or more – will be considered so-called 'grans tenidors' or 'large property owners' and will therefore have to limit new rent prices according to an index created by the Spanish statistics institute (INE) as established by the country's recent housing law.

Those who put their properties on the social rent market for lower-income households will be excluded from this definition.

"This will put more affordable housing on the market," Ester Capella, Catalonia's territory minister, said.

The Spanish government will now have to approve Catalonia's request to enforce the law in 'tense housing zones', which includes Barcelona and 139 other municipalities that are home to around 6.2 million people or 80% of the Catalan population.

According to Capella, the law may be able to come into effect in Catalonia by the end of the month.

It also means that once the Spanish government greenlights Catalonia's request, the 140 municipalities will be considered 'tense housing zones' for at least the next three years. 

The influential Sindicat de Llogateres tenants union welcomed the news and called on the Spanish government to approve the Catalan authorities' request "immediately."

"The ball is now in the Spanish ministry of transports' court," the group said in a statement. "Rents will increase every day that goes by without the regulation."