Andorran Real Estate Owners Slam Rental Law as Fake Deregulation
APBI criticizes government's 2027-2032 draft for extending rent controls amid housing shortage from demographic growth and supply imbalance, urging.
Key Points
- APBI calls draft a disguised extension of market controls, ignoring 2,000+ new residents without supply growth.
- 80% of rentals €500-€1,000/month (€6-10/sqm), far below portal listings for new properties.
- Limited rent hikes ignore rising costs, squeezing profits and prompting owners to exit market.
- Demands review and delay, rejecting landlord-only burden for vulnerable housing.
The Andorran Association of Real Estate Owners (APBI) has strongly criticised the government's draft law on residential rental regulations for 2027-2032, describing it as a disguised extension of existing market controls rather than genuine deregulation.
In a detailed statement, the APBI argued that the proposed measures fail to address underlying issues driving the rental shortage, including sustained demographic growth of over 2,000 new residents in the past year without a matching increase in rental housing supply. This imbalance, they said, fuels scarcity, waiting lists, and price pressures that cannot be fixed solely through rent controls.
The association highlighted that around 80% of active rental contracts carry monthly rents between €500 and €1,000—equivalent to €6-10 per square metre—far below figures often cited from real estate portals. Those higher listings, according to the APBI, represent only a small fraction of the stock, mainly new or recently renovated properties, and do not reflect the broader market reality shaped by years of freezes and limited increases.
Critics within the APBI pointed out that the draft's planned rent adjustments are "extremely limited, gradual, and conditional," failing to account for rising costs of property maintenance, utilities, insurance, and energy upgrades. This squeezes profitability, discourages investment in renovations, and risks degrading the housing stock. Prolonged rigid contracts and legal uncertainty, they warned, are already prompting owners—especially small landlords—to withdraw properties from the rental market or repurpose them, further tightening supply and creating a dual market: low-rent legacy units with little turnover alongside high-price entry-level options for newcomers.
The group rejected the idea of landlords bearing near-exclusive responsibility for housing vulnerable groups, insisting that such protections should come from state-funded policies and direct aid shared across society. Foreign investment in high-end rentals has also distorted dynamics, adding to risks for local owners.
The APBI called for a thorough review of the draft and postponement of its approval to foster a balanced, sustainable rental market.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources:
- Diari d'Andorra•
Els propietaris de pisos planten cara a la nova llei d’arrendaments
- ARA•
Els propietaris consideren insuficient la descongelació dels lloguers
- El Periòdic•
L’APBI alerta que la futura llei del lloguer no suposa una desintervenció del mercat ni resol problemes estructurals
- Altaveu•
Rebuig frontal dels propietaris a la proposta de descongelació dels lloguers prevista pel Govern
- Diari d'Andorra•
Els propietaris denuncien una “prolongació encoberta” del control dels lloguers