Tag: users

Barcelona’s Town Hall has Shut Down 2,355 Illegal Tourist Apartments in 2 Years

11 July 2018 – Inmodiario

After launching the emergency plan against illegal tourist apartments (HUT) in July 2016, the Town Hall of Barcelona has closed 2,355 properties and is in the process of shutting down another 1,800.

Moreover, this summer the “Fair Tourism BCN” campaign is being promoted once again to inform and raise awareness amongst citizens and visitors alike about the dangers of this illegal activity for everyone.

In total, 10,635 files have been opened and 5,503 fines have been imposed, five times as many as during the period from 2014 to 2016. The number of termination orders rose from 663 in 2014 to 4,148 in 2016.

By area, the files opened have been located primarily in L’Eixample (3,193) and Ciutat Vella (2,920), followed by Sant Martí (1,220), Sants-Montjuïc (1,042) and Gràcia (939).

In addition to this activity, inspections have been conducted of: 81 entire buildings where it was suspected that illegal tourist activity was being undertaken; 21 student halls, also suspected of tourist activity; and 61 illegal B&Bs, under the umbrella of rooms for rent, which were leasing all of their rooms.

Besides the fining activity, the team comprising more than 100 inspectors and visualisers is continuing to work to ensure that closed down apartments do not reopen, to identify new illegal properties and to hunt down the organised networks that are managing more than one property.

In parallel, work is continuing with holiday rental platforms through a joint roundtable that has been working for some time with Homeaway, Booking, TripAdvisor, Rentalia and Apartur, and which has recently been joined by Airbnb.

Work is currently on-going to allow the Town Hall to have access to data about users who have joined the platforms since 1 June 2018.

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Twisttt: Merlin Launches New Co-Working Brand Together with Loom House

20 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Merlin doesn’t want to get left behind in the race between the real estate companies in the co-working sector and so has taken the lead. The Socimi led by Ismael Clemente is going to launch a new co-working brand, under the name Twistt, together with Loom House, the company specialising in shared work centres, in which the Socimi acquired a stake of more than 30% last May. As sources at Merlin have explained to EjePrime, the first space under this new co-working brand is going to be opened in a building that the Socimi owns in Calle Princesa, Madrid.

The Socimi is going to open its first Twisttt space at number 5 Calle Princesa, in a building that it already owns. “Under this new brand, Merlin is going to contribute the assets and Loom House is going to be responsible for managing the co-working space”, explain the sources. There will be 1,100 m2 of shared office space, which can house up to 150 users. Twisttt’s first space is expected to be fully operational by June.

Although the sources at Merlin are not yet able to define the route map that the two groups will adopt with Twisttt, the plans involve opening at least one more co-working centre before the end of the year. “Unlike Loom House, which is an ecosystem focused on innovation, Twisttt is a much more practical ecosystem”, explain sources at the group. Twisttt will belong to the same company as Loom House, Innovación Colaborativa, and so will not be a new company.

This new project comes almost a year after Merlin purchased a 31% stake in Loom House. Paula Almansa and Jose Almansa are the founders of Loom House, a concept that seeks to differentiate itself from a “simple co-working because we wanted to go one step further”, explained its co-founder. “It is a space destined to innovation, to sharing ideas, that allows you to reflect” – explains Almansa-; if all you want us a workspace with wifi and a coffee shop, there are other options ahead of Loom House”.

Loom House is the spin-off of Impact Hub, the first co-working that was created in Spain by ten entrepreneurs (including the Almansa siblings). “After seeing that the co-working concept was starting to be accepted in Spain, we got down to work with Loom House, opening our first space in the ‘Real Fábrica de Tapices’ in 2016”, say sources at the group (…).

Now, the company is preparing to go one step further with the launch of its second Loom House space. This new centre, which will span 1,500 m2 and which will be able to house more than 190 users, is going to be located at number 9 Calle Huertas, in the Las Letras neighbourhood, in the former Chamber of Commerce building. Work to remodel the asset has already begun and is expected to be completed by in June.

The co-working war 

The entry of Merlin into the co-working sector is not an isolated or anecdotal event. Ismael Clemente’s Socimi is following in the footsteps of Colonial, which acquired a majority stake in the Madrilenian based firm Utopicus (specialising in coworking) last October, to develop a new branch of its business, as Eje Prime revealed.

Currently, Utopicus has three centres in Madrid, located on Calles Duque de Rivas, Colegiata and Doctor Esquerdo (…).

Now, with the objective of generating a profit from its investment, Colonial is going to open three more Utopicus centres, on this occasion in Barcelona (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

The CNMV Approves Housers As A RE Platform

9 May 2017 – Cinco Días

Housers markets itself as “the leading real estate investment platform”, which allows users to invest in property in the best areas of large cities for as little as €50. It pays rental income to its users and allows them to benefit from the appreciation in real estate prices when the property they invest in ends up being sold.

It is the largest platform in the sector, with more than 42,000 users, of which around 40% have already invested. Since it began life in April 2015, its users have invested more than €22 million. And, following extensive negotiations with the CNMV, the platform has now received approval from the supervisor chaired by Sebastián Albella. (…).

Sources familiar with the situation say that, since the beginning, Housers has been in contact with the supervisor, chaired in theory by Elvira Rodríguez, and then its conversations intensified with Sebastián Albella. In this way, the problem with Housers was that it joined together fund-raising activity with the promotion of that activity, and that was not permitted by law.

Sources close to the entity explain that the platform has spun off both activities. (…).

As such, Housers Global Properties will now be called Housers Global Properties PFP SL. In an email sent out to its users, the firm explained that since it began operations in April 2015, it has managed to finance 92 properties: 73 in Madrid, 9 in Barcelona, 7 in Valencia, 1 in Marbella and 2 in Palma de Mallorca.

Housers generates a return, known as a dividend, which varies by project, but the historical average amounts to around 3.6%. On the firm’s website, it advertises a return of 6.6% from investing in Zurbano. In addition to the rental income, investors benefit from rises in property prices, amounting to more than 12%, on average.

Sources close to the platform highlight that its mantra is to obtain certainty around its investments, which is why it has to buy homes in central areas, as a way of saving. Its core cities are Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca. Housers mainly invests in housing and retail premises for rent, as well as in properties for renovation and subsequent sale. (…).

How does the platform earn money? Housers charges a 10% commission on the dividends it pays out, as well as on the proceeds from its property sales. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Office Rents Rose By 5% In Q1 2016

11 May 2016 – Expansión

The reactivation of the real estate market is also being reflected in the office segment. The average price of offices in Spain increased by 5% during the first quarter of the year, according to a report about the sector by the real estate portal misoficinas.es. The report indicates that the market is continuing its positive trend, but “in moderation”. Searches for offices centre around Madrid and Barcelona, which account for 75% of the total, and the prices of offices sought, at the global level, have increased with respect to the same period in 2015, by 7.81% in terms of the minimum price and by 2.81% in terms of the maximum price.

In Madrid, potential tenants focus on the financial district, Alcobendas and the west, which account for 90% of all searches. Users searched for office spaces that are 5% larger than in the same period last year in the centre of the capital. Also in the capital, the rental price of offices sought rose by 6.71% during the first quarter, to reach €12.31/sqm. The size of the spaces being sought in Madrid also increased, up from 585 sqm to 805 sqm.

In Barcelona, the size of the spaces being sought also increased, to reach maximums of 500 sqm during the first quarter, compared with 416 sqm during the same period in 2015. Nevertheless, the report noted a decrease of 5.47% in terms of the average price demanded, with the average price for office space amounting to €9.29/sqm. In this way, the average cost of leasing an office in Madrid is now 32.5% higher than in Barcelona, whereby increasing the differential between the two cities, up from just 17.4% in 2015.

In the rest of Spain, the average price sought rose from €5.86/sqm in 2015 to €6.01/sqm in 2016. The size of space sought also increased, given that in 2015, potential tenants wanted 211 sqm on average compared with 223 sqm in 2016.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake