Spanish MPs vote Thursday on a law designed to curb rising rents and try to solve the endemic housing crisis, which the left-wing government wants to impose as a central theme in the campaign for the upcoming elections.
The executive of the socialist Pedro Sánchez hopes for a rapid adoption of this bill, which will then have to be voted on by the Senate, so that the text can come into force before the regional and municipal elections of May 28, considered a kind of first turn of the legislative elections scheduled for the end of the year.
Presented by Perdo Sánchez as the "
very first housing law
" in the country since the return of democracy to Spain in 1975, this text is part of the reforms promised to Brussels in exchange for funds from the post-Covid mega-recovery plan. .
According to Madrid, it must help people who have difficulty finding housing, by limiting real estate speculation, capping rent increases, developing supply in "tense" areas and offering more protection to vulnerable families at
risk
of 'expulsion.
“
Spain is facing very significant housing problems
,” Pedro Sánchez told MPs last week, saying rents had increased by an average of 45% between 2014 and 2021, making housing “
unreachable for many people, especially young people
.
Rents regulated in tight areas
Rising rents are at the center of concerns in a country still traumatized by the real estate crisis caused by the financial crisis of 2008, which left thousands of families unable to repay their mortgages on the streets.
Intended to address these concerns, the government bill provides in detail to cap rent increases, usually indexed to inflation, at 3% in 2024 – a new rent review index to be created for 2025.
The text also grants regional authorities the power to classify
neighborhoods where particularly high prices force tenants to move into “
tight areas ”, in order to regulate rents there.
Finally, it penalizes landlords leaving several empty dwellings, extends the eviction freeze for vulnerable tenants and requires that people threatened with eviction be informed of the exact date and time when they must leave the premises.
For the employers' organization of the tourism sector Exceltur, the cap on rents could nevertheless turn against tenants, by pushing owners to rent their property short-term, on Airbnb for example, to escape the restrictions.
“
It could end up making the problem worse
,” she warned in a statement.
"Not enough"
"
The only way out of the crisis (...) is to invest massively in social housing
," said sociologist Jesus Leal, assuring the newspaper El Pais that the text should have focused more on housing “
with rents independent of the market
”.
Saying he wanted to make affordable housing a priority, Pedro Sánchez admitted that the law was "not
enough
" to solve the crisis.
“
That is why we must increase the supply of public housing from the shameful proportion of 3% of the total housing stock
” to the figure of “
20%
”, as in the “
most advanced countries
” in the EU , did he declare.
Read alsoSpain wants to boost social housing
Before Thursday's vote, Pedro Sánchez has made several announcements in recent days providing for the construction or marketing of a total of 113,000 social housing units, part of which belongs to Sareb, an entity created to absorb the assets seized during the financial crisis.
Pedro Sánchez's housing announcements have been criticized by the People's Party (PP), the main right-wing opposition party, which believes they will not solve long-term housing problems.
She also accuses the text of offering a "
fantastic opportunity for squatters
" by making the eviction procedure "
more difficult and slower
".
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