Stressed housing areas in Catalonia: legal interpretation of the two declarations and their territorial scope

The declaration of stressed housing areas in Catalonia has generated significant confusion. Not so much because of the existence of these areas — expressly provided for in the legislation — but rather due to how they should be interpreted when they have been declared through different administrative acts.

The current legislation does not provide a clear answer, which has led to contradictory interpretations. In this article, we explain the criterion we uphold at the firm, based on Law 12/2023 on the right to housing, and on the legal structure of the declarations approved in Catalonia, clarifying what the law expressly states and what must be interpreted in light of its silence.

What does the law understand by a stressed housing market area

Law 12/2023, of 24 May, introduces the concept of a stressed housing market area and empowers the autonomous communities to declare them when the legal requirements are met.

However, the law presents a significant shortcoming: it uses the concept of “stressed area” but does not precisely define its territorial scope, nor does it clarify how it should operate when there are several declarations approved at different times.

This point is key, because the law does not refer to “stressed municipalities”, but rather to stressed areas. This terminological distinction requires an analysis of how a zone is legally defined, which is nothing other than through the administrative act that declares it.

The delimitation of stressed housing areas through administrative declarations in Catalonia

From a legal-administrative standpoint, a stressed housing area does not exist on its own, but is defined by the declaration that approves it.

In Catalonia, stressed housing areas have not been declared through a single act, but rather through two distinct administrative declarations, approved at different points in time.

This fact is objective and verifiable and has clear legal consequences:

• Each declaration is an autonomous administrative act.
• Each act defines its own territorial scope.
• Each declaration produces legal effects from the moment it enters into force.

Therefore, the delimitation of the area is determined by the declaration, not by a generic aggregation of municipalities.

Two administrative declarations, two differentiated stressed housing areas

Based on the foregoing, our legal reasoning is as follows:

• The law uses the concept of an area, not that of a municipality.
• In Catalonia, there are two distinct declarations of stressed housing areas.
• Each declaration defines its own territorial scope.

From a legal and systematic perspective, we understand that it is not possible to speak of a single homogeneous stressed housing area, but rather of two differentiated stressed housing areas, each defined by its respective administrative declaration.

First stressed housing area: municipalities included in the first declaration

The first declaration includes a specific set of municipalities.

Taken together, these municipalities constitute a first stressed housing area, with its own legal identity derived from that administrative act.

Second stressed housing area: municipalities included in the second declaration

Subsequently, a second declaration is approved that includes new municipalities.

According to our criteria, this second declaration does not merely automatically extend the first, but instead defines a new territorial scope, legally differentiated from the previous one.

The common mistake: confusing municipalities with areas

One of the main sources of confusion is shifting the analysis to the municipal level, when the law does not operate in those terms.

From our point of view, two common approaches are incorrect:

• Treating each municipality as if it were an independent area.
• Adding together all stressed municipalities as if they formed a single general area.

The key is to understand that:

• Stressed housing areas are delimited by administrative declarations.
• Each declaration defines a specific area.
• Municipalities are integrated into the area to which they belong, but they do not replace the area as the legal reference.

Correctly interpreting stressed housing areas

Law 12/2023 does not expressly clarify whether the different declarations should be understood as a single cumulative area or as differentiated scopes. This regulatory silence gives rise to clear legal uncertainty.

In the absence of such clarification, and based on a criterion consistent with the literal wording of the law, respectful of the structure of administrative acts and coherent with the principles of public law, we consider that in Catalonia there are two differentiated stressed housing areas, each defined by its own administrative declaration.

Consequently, municipalities are integrated into the area that corresponds to them according to the declaration in which they have been included, and do not form part of a single general territorial block.

The practical significance of this issue requires applying this criterion with prudence and analysing each situation on an individual basis, avoiding automatic interpretations that are not expressly supported by the law.