Renting a vacation home for short periods of time has become fashionable. According to data from Exceltur, an association that groups 23 of the largest companies in the tourism sector, the last exercise was closed with a parquet of 1.7 million homes for tourism use. That is, at present there is a tourist floor for every two regulated places. This new business that has always existed - but nowadays is rising strongly - is very upset in the market these days, as it is blamed on holiday housing for the rise in rental prices.
According to the real estate portal Idealista, "the rise in the prices of real estate rentals has nothing to do with the offer of accommodation for tourists, as this is static and in the traditional rental there is a lot of rotation." In addition, Idealista adds another reason to decouple the rise of traditional rentals with the offer of holiday flats, as "the greatest increases in rents have been recorded in neighborhoods less attractive to tourists."
Therefore, the increase in rent is solely the fault of the improvement in employment. Of the same opinion is Joseba Cortázar, PR manager Iberia of HomeAway: "There is really no proof that the homes for tourism use increase the price of rent. Prices rise because of the context of the economy."
On the other hand, Gerard Marcet, a founding partner of Laborde Marcet, points out that "it is inevitable that tourist accommodation will have an inflationary effect on the rental sector in Spain if it is not properly regulated. Impossible to control what each individual does within his domicile or whether or not he taxes for offering a hosting service outside the regulatory framework.
Therefore, the rent price is growing annually in double digit rates in the large Spanish cities. In Barcelona, Madrid or San Sebastián it is no longer possible to rent a property for less than 650-700 euros, practically the interprofessional minimum wage.
The main problem facing this market is that each autonomous community establishes its own regulations and requirements for tourist rentals. "There is a great fragmentation in this sector and it is desirable to try to homogenize so that the requirements are the most similar in all the autonomous communities to avoid inequalities. It must be remembered that the vacation home is not the same as a hotel, because it does not offer services Of food, so it does not make sense that there are requirements regarding the restoration. The requirements have to be defined in each area, "explains Joseba Cortázar.
According to Gerard Marcet, "the situation of tourist accommodation in Spain is as negative for the hospitality sector as for families trying to access a decent home by renting a property. Of regulation in this area, the big beneficiaries are the tourists who come to Spain in much cheaper housing conditions and the renters of tourist apartments, which triple or quadruple their monthly income by renting the property for weeks to foreigners, instead of monthly To resident families. "
What solution is there to regularize this market? Joseba Cortázar points out that "there is a need for a public-private partnership between the platforms and associations of the sector to understand the phenomenon well and to reach a consensus of legal regularization, but not to demonize this sector. Behavior that different platforms can take ".