The DOGC of November 8, 2023, published Decree Law 3/2023, of November 7, on urgent measures on the urban planning regime of tourist housing in Catalonia, which came into force on November 9.
First of all, we must emphasize that this new regulation subjects tourist housing to the regime of granting of a prior urban planning license, regardless of the fact that at the local level its specific urban planning regulations regulate other permits or authorizations.
This license is valid for a term of 5 years, extendable for periods of equal duration in accordance with the planning.
Secondly, it affects all existing declarations and authorizations, which, within a maximum period of 5 years from the entry into force of the Decree-Law, must obtain the urban development license regulated in this Decree-Law, without which they will not be able to continue with such activity and must cease it. However, as we will see below, there is the possibility of extending the pre-existing permit for a further 5 years.
This Decree-Law allows, and this must be expressly regulated in the urban planning, the compatibility of the use of residence with the tourist use of the habitual residence.
The granting of these licenses is limited in number so that, in no case, more licenses may be granted than those resulting from applying a maximum of 10 dwellings for tourist use per 100 inhabitants.
The regulation just approved affects the municipalities contained in the Annex to the same, which must be replaced by the Order of the Department of Terrotiri i Urbasnisme, and that in any case, will be reviewed every 5 years.
The Annex includes a total of 262 municipalities, in which there are problems of access to housing or because they are municipalities at risk of breaking the balance of the urban environment due to a high concentration of dwellings for tourist use, understanding as such those that present a concentration of 5 or more dwellings for tourist use per 100 inhabitants.
Municipalities with housing access problems as defined in the Decree-Law are those that meet at least one of the following requirements:
(a) that the average burden of the cost of the rent or mortgage on the personal budget or that of the cohabitation unit, plus basic expenses and supplies, exceeds 30% of the average income or average household income,
b) that in the period of 5 years prior to the entry into force of this Decree-Law the rental or purchase price of the dwelling has experienced a cumulative growth percentage at least 3pp higher than the cumulative growth percentage of the consumer price index of Catalonia.
The Decree-Law makes it possible to extend for 5 years, that is to say, up to 10 years from its entry into force, November 9, 2033, the permits for housing for tourist use existing at its entry into force, in the event that its holder accredits that the new license to be applied for does not compensate for the loss of the permit or authorization that it had at November 9, 2023. This circumstance must be accredited within the 4 years following the entry into force of the Decree Law, November 9, 2027, at the Town Hall.
The Decree-Law configures the previous transitory regulation as a compensation regime for the damages that the new regulation may cause in the holders of licenses for tourist use housing pre-existing at the date of its publication in the DOGC, ruling out any possibility of taking action against the Administration for this reason.
