With partial rules
Coliving regulation in the Valencian Community, Spain: only the collaborative housing of Act 3/2023 (2026)
There is no coliving rule like Madrid's or Catalonia's. What has existed since 9 May 2023 is Ley 3/2023 de viviendas colaborativas (Act 3/2023 on collaborative housing), designed for not-for-profit cooperatives and associations that own the building and run it among their users. The DC-23 design decree sets 23 m² of usable area per home. Coliving run by a company has no regional figure, and the València General Plan that would include it is still going through its approval procedure.
The general guide to coliving regulation in Spain →
The short answer
The Valencian Community has an act whose name sounds like coliving and which, once read, regulates something else. Act 3/2023 on collaborative housing, in force since 9 May 2023, is made for buildings whose sole owner is an entity of their own users —a cooperative or an association— and that entity cannot be profit-making. Neither the word "coliving" nor the word "operator" appears in its text.
That is why this page is one of partial rules: for coliving run by a company there is no regional figure of its own, as there is in Madrid or Catalonia. The Valencian planning act, the TRLOTUP (Legislative Decree 1/2021), does not contain the word "coliving" either: it only mentions "viviendas colaborativas en cesión de uso" (collaborative housing under assignment of use) twice.
What the rule says
Se consideran viviendas colaborativas los edificios o conjuntos residenciales cuya titularidad única pertenece a una entidad participada por sus usuarios, cuya gestión es compartida, adoptando la forma de cooperativa no lucrativa o de asociación no lucrativa. ("Collaborative housing means residential buildings or complexes whose sole ownership belongs to an entity in which their users take part, whose management is shared, taking the form of a not-for-profit cooperative or a not-for-profit association.")
The act adds three pieces that set it apart from market coliving. The owning entity cannot be profit-making (Art. 10(1)). The resident does not rent: they receive a right of assignment of use of their home, "de naturaleza societaria, de carácter personalísimo" (corporate in nature and strictly personal), which "en ningún caso se podrá configurar como derecho real" (may in no case be set up as a right in rem) (Art. 10(4)). And the common areas are not an extra: they must take up at least 20 % of the total floor area, or 10 % where an existing complex is refurbished and cannot give more (Art. 3(3)).
The DC-23 design and quality decree (Decree 80/2023, consolidated with Decree 202/2023 and in force in that form since 24 November 2023) expressly brings these buildings within its scope (Art. 2(1)), regulates their common-use spaces (Art. 45) and sets the floor area of each home: "La superficie útil interior mínima de las viviendas colaborativas será de 23 m²" ("The minimum interior usable area of collaborative homes shall be 23 m²", Art. 60(4)).
The conditions
| Condition | What it requires | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | A single entity of the users, cooperative or association, not for profit | Act 3/2023, Arts. 3 and 10(1) |
| Resident's right | Assignment of use, corporate and strictly personal; never a right in rem | Act 3/2023, Art. 10(4) |
| Ownership | The cooperative cannot allot ownership or any limited right in rem over the homes to its members | Act 3/2023, Art. 10(3) |
| Common areas | At least 20 % of the total floor area (10 % in refurbishments) | Act 3/2023, Art. 3(3) |
| Community room | At least one of 25 m² able to hold a square 3.50 m a side | Act 3/2023, Art. 8(2) |
| Home | At least 23 m² of usable area; living room, dining room and kitchen may be smaller if those uses are met in common areas | DC-23, Art. 60(2) and 60(4) (table 12) |
Sources: Act 3/2023 (BOE-A-2023-10134) and consolidated Decree 80/2023 (DOGV).
In the city of València, the City Council is revising the planning rules of its General Plan to include "el uso residencial colectivo para nuevas formas de habitar como el coliving, cohousing o flexliving" (collective residential use for new ways of living such as coliving, cohousing or flexliving). The second public consultation period was agreed on 15 July 2026, so it is still going through its approval procedure and is not a rule in force. This comes from the City Council's official press note: the text in the gazette could not be verified. On how the figures differ, see flex living.
What the rule does not say
Worth knowing
Act 3/2023 says nothing about coliving run by a profit-making professional: it neither allows nor forbids it; it simply is not its subject. Nor does it set a maximum stay; the only term it mentions is five years for fixed-term members (Art. 10(12)). Calling a company's coliving "vivienda colaborativa" does not give it the regime of this act, which requires a not-for-profit owner made up of the users themselves.
What doesn't change
Without a figure of its own, the contract with the resident and the obligations of running the operation are settled as in any other region: they are in the general guide to coliving regulation in Spain and in LAU: residential or other use.
Frequently asked questions
Can I open a company-run coliving space in Valencia under Act 3/2023?
Not as collaborative housing. Article 3 of Act 3/2023 requires the building to belong to a single entity in which its users take part, in the form of a not-for-profit cooperative or association, and Article 10(1) forbids profit-making. An operator letting rooms does not fit. The project depends on the municipality's planning and on how it fits under the Urban Leases Act.
What is the minimum floor area of a collaborative home?
Twenty-three square metres of usable area, under Article 60(4) of Decree 80/2023 (DC-23). If the living room, dining room or kitchen are met in common areas, their floor areas may be reduced in line with table 12 of the same decree. The building's common areas must be at least 20 % of the total floor area, under Article 3(3) of Act 3/2023.
Is the resident of a collaborative home a tenant?
No. They receive a right of assignment of use of the home that Article 10(4) of Act 3/2023 defines as corporate in nature and strictly personal, and which may in no case be set up as a right in rem. They hold it as a member of the owning entity, which keeps full ownership or all possessory rights over the building.
Does the city of València have a coliving rule?
It is going through its approval procedure. The revision of the planning rules of the València General Plan includes collective residential use for new ways of living such as coliving, cohousing or flexliving, and its second public consultation period was agreed on 15 July 2026. Until it is finally approved it is not a rule, and its text could not be verified in the gazette.
Other regions
- MadridRules of its own since November 2023: the "residencia compartida" (shared residence) of the General Plan's Planning Rules, a residential use allowed only in a dedicated building.
- CataloniaRules of its own since December 2020: housing with complementary common spaces under Llei 18/2007, with a certificate of occupancy and no horizontal division of the building.
- GaliciaRules of its own since 1 January 2026: shared accommodation under Act 8/2012, by public or private developers and with 30 m² of usable area per unit.
- AndalusiaPartial rules: Act 5/2025 has defined coliving (Art. 4(j)) since 24 January 2026, but the minimum floor area depends on regulations that have not been issued.
- Balearic IslandsRules of its own since May 2024: housing with complementary common spaces under Llei 5/2018, with a single certificate of occupancy for the building and no horizontal property.
- Basque CountryPartial rules: Decree 80/2022 only sets the habitability of collaborative housing; use, licensing and the contract have no rule of their own.
- Canary IslandsRules of its own since February 2024: housing with complementary common spaces under Act 2/2003 and the floor areas of Decree-Law 1/2024, with regulations pending.