Overview
- The European Commission circulated a draft Affordable Housing Regulation on Tuesday that for the first time creates an EU legal route for municipalities to restrict purchases of second homes and to curb short‑term rentals that are not the host’s primary residence.
- The draft bars restrictions on short‑term lets when the unit is the host’s main home and says limits on non‑primary rentals or second‑home purchases may be applied only after objective evidence shows at least three years of negative effects on affordability or availability.
- Barcelona’s leaders hailed the draft as backing for the city’s plan to eliminate licensed tourist flats by 2028, saying the text recognizes ‘tense market’ zones where public action is justified.
- The tourist‑apartment group Apartur disputed that reading and said the draft’s strict tests for proportionality, legal certainty and evidence would make blanket closures hard to justify, noting that tourist flats are about 1% of Barcelona’s housing stock.
- The text still needs approval from the College of Commissioners and then negotiations in the Council and European Parliament, where political and industry opposition could reshape requirements and determine how the rules affect residents and local housing markets.