Barcelona tenants accuse investment funds of flouting rent caps through co-living model

Tenants in Barcelona have accused investment funds of circumventing rent caps by marketing higher-priced co-living rooms, as housing unions criticise the Catalan government for weak enforcement of the law.

Those affected – including tenants in the Papallona building near Plaça Espanya and an apartment block on Carrer Sant Agustí in Gràcia – say they have identified 44 listings that may breach current regulations.

Thirteen listings are linked to the New Amsterdam Developers investment fund and 31 are promoted by other companies operating under the co-living model.

Tenants, backed by housing unions, have filed official complaints with Catalonia's housing and consumer agencies. 

The unions have condemned what they describe as systematic breaches of rent controls and say that since legislation was passed, the Catalan government has sanctioned only three companies for non-compliance.

According to the complaints filed, the rooms for rent were advertised for around €900 each, well above the legal cap.

One room offered by New Amsterdam Developers in the Sant Agustí apartment block was listed at €950, while some current tenants in the same building pay €811 for an entire three-bedroom flat.

The complaints submitted to the Catalan Housing Agency call on its inspectors – due to begin operating shortly – to "proactively" investigate such contracts.

"The adverts say the rooms are for recreational, tourist or leisure use, but when we visited the company's co-living properties we saw working people and students, and therefore the rent cap should apply," said Txema Escorsa, a Sant Agustí resident who has filed a complaint.

Separately, tenants have asked the Catalan Consumer Agency to examine the published listings after identifying missing mandatory information, including the rent index reference price, the previous contract price and whether the landlord qualifies as a large property holder.

"This is not a simple oversight, but a deliberate action to conceal from potential tenants the information necessary to defend their rights," those affected said.

They argue the alleged practices constitute a serious breach of Catalan legislation on rents and the right to housing, specifically as regulated under Decree Law 11/2025 and Law 18/2007. 

"This legal framework obliges all individuals and legal entities marketing homes located in areas declared as "stressed" housing markets to give information, in a transparent manner, about these three elements, which allow the tenant to know whether the advertised price respects the legal limit," they said.

Dossier delivered to investment fund's headquarters

On Wednesday morning, tenants from the Sant Agustí and Papallona apartment blocks went to New Amsterdam Developers' headquarters on Buenos Aires Street in Barcelona to hand over a dossier detailing the 13 rooms advertised in properties it owns.

An employee who received them defended the company's position and the legality of its practices.

The Tenants' Union (Sindicat de Llogateres) said the fund, which owns 12 residential blocks in Barcelona, "has dedicated itself to pushing out the tenants who were living there to refurbish the flats, often bypassing urban planning regulations, and renting them out at luxury prices."

The union said the strategy, while questionable, had been legal before rent controls applied to individual rooms, but that "since January 1 this year, rooms are also subject to price caps."

It added that New Amsterdam Developers had confirmed to residents that it would not comply with the regulation and intended to continue its co-living business despite its alleged illegality.

Txema Escorsa, who presented the complaints to the company, lives in the Sant Agustí block and is facing eviction.

"I have an eviction order scheduled for March 25, despite continuing to pay the rent and having made it clear that I want my contract renewed," he said.

He criticised the investment fund for "wanting to continue trying to expel the residents of this building and those of the Papallona building in order to turn the flats into co-living spaces."

Escorsa said that 11 families were living in the Sant Agustí building in 2023, and that five of the original tenants remain while four flats are already operating as co-living units.

Susi, a resident of the Papallona building, said that for her and her neighbours the apartment block is not an investment or a business opportunity, but their home. She said they learned in 2024 that the block had been bought by the Dutch fund and have since lived with "uncertainty, pressure and fear."

"I am not a number on a balance sheet, I am a person who has built my life in this neighbourhood, with my network and my daily routine. she said.

"This block is our home. We are not asking permission to stay: we will stay."

Only three sanctions in a year

Enric Aragonès, spokesperson for the Sindicat de Llogateres, said the complaints had been filed "because the law is being broken."

He said the union hoped negotiations would open on renewing contracts "so that there are no expulsions in these blocks and so that the law is effectively complied with." which is ultimately an achievement of organised people”.

He criticised what he described as a lack of enforcement, saying there are investment funds "that break the law and nothing happens."

Although rent controls were approved two years ago and a sanctioning regime has been in place for a year, the Catalan government has imposed only three penalties and opened just over a dozen proceedings, he said.

"If New Amsterdam Developers are guilty of these practices and for these expulsions, the government and Barcelona City Council are responsible for allowing them," he added.