# Catalonia considers expropriating empty homes in low demand areas (El Periódico, 21 Nov 2020) * **The \[Catalan] Government studies enabling expropriations of empty homes in low demand municipalities** * Original headline in Spanish**:** *El Govern estudia habilitar expropiaciones de viviendas vacías en los municipios de baja demanda* * By EFE News Agency. Published in El Periódico on 21 November 2020 * * **Summary** (through Google Translate): * The Catalan government wants to **reform the housing law to enable the expropriation of empty homes in all municipalities and not only in those that have a strong accredited demand**, as until now (see, on this knowledge base, "[Barcelona’s Latest Affordable Housing Tool: Seize Empty Apartments (Bloomberg, 16 July 2020)](https://housing-base.journalismarena.eu/empty-homes/media-reports/barcelonas-latest-affordable-housing-tool-seize-empty-apartments-bloomberg-16-july-2020)"). * The measure would be **part of a programme that seeks to make it easier for people to settle in rural areas** and fight against their depopulation through the rehabilitation of disused houses. * With this programme, the Catalan government will promote access to rural housing by acting as an intermediary with the owners of empty homes and people interested in living in them to find acceptable tenancy formulas by both parties. * I**n "very specific cases" in which the owner breaches his duty to maintain the home and does not want to make it available to this programme, it could lead to "expropriation"**. * **Keywords**: Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, empty homes, rural housing, rural areas, expropriation, regulation, law --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://housing-base.journalismarena.eu/empty-homes/media-reports/catalonia-considers-expropriating-empty-homes-in-low-demand-areas-el-periodico-21-nov-2020.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.