Spain delays publication of rent price reference index 

Spain's Ministry of Housing has decided to delay the publication of the reference index for rent prices until at least Friday. 

The public consultation period for this index came to an end on Tuesday. The ministry says it is legally necessary to allow another 24 hours to respond to all the doubts raised by citizens and institutions and to wait for queries registered outside the ministry, for example via Spain's Autonomous Communities. 

A source from the ministry said the resolution could be published in Spain's official gazette (BOE) on Friday. 

Once the index is officially published, Catalonia will be able to declare certain areas as tense housing zones, bringing in caps on rent prices based on the index. 

80% of Catalan population affected 

Last June, the Catalan Government expanded the number of municipalities with so-called tense housing zones from 60 to 140. It is in these areas where property owners will have to limit rents. 

Some 6.2 million people, 80% of the total Catalan population, live in one of these 140 municipalities, which include practically the whole metropolitan area of Barcelona; the cities of Tarragona, Girona and Lleida, significant parts of the coast, and some mountainous areas such as Ripoll, Puigcerdà, Mollerussa, Solsona and Torelló. 

According to the new regulation, new contracts cannot exceed the price of the last contract in force in the last five years, after the annual update, which is 3% for 2024. 

For homes owned by large-scale property holders (individuals or companies with more than ten urban properties for residential use), the rent cannot be higher than the reference price index.