On 24 March 2015, the Act on extraordinary and urgent measures for
occupancy of residential units acquired in a foreclosure process
was approved in the Catalonian Parliament and became effective as
of 25 March 2015.
Following that approval, a number of measures have been adopted,
affecting holders of residential units acquired in the process of
foreclosure or by compensation or debt payment with mortgage-backed
securities (the Properties):
- Firstly, the Catalonian Administration is granted a right of first
refusal over the Properties located in areas of strong and proven
residential demand which were acquired starting on 9 April 2008.
The holders of the Properties that wish to sell are required to
notify their decision, first of all, to the Housing Agency of
Catalonia (Agencia de la Vivienda de Cataluña).
- Moreover, the Register of vacant housing and housing occupied
without title (Registro de viviendas vacías y de viviendas
ocupadas sin título habilitante) has been created. Within
three months after the entry into force of this regulation, the
holders of vacant Properties shall provide the Housing Agency of
Catalonia with a list of such Properties. The information included
in the register may be used by the Administration to take steps to
in order to prevent Properties vacating. The breach of these
measures could lead to sanctions.
In parallel with this regulation, a bill on vacant housing tax is
being discussed at the Catalonian Parliament. This tax will affect
only legal persons holding properties unreasonably vacant for more
than two years (the Taxpayers).
The amount of tax will vary between €500 and €1,650 per year and
Property, depending on the total number of Properties held by the
Taxpayer that are subject to tax.
Notwithstanding this, a number of discounts will be established in
favour of Taxpayers who allocate a part of vacant Properties for
lease in similar conditions to the social housing regime.
