The Constitutional Court admits all appeals filed against the housing law

The Constitutional Court has admitted to processing this Tuesday the appeals of unconstitutionality against various precepts of the housing law. The body of guarantees has grouped the appeal of the PP, presented by 50 of its deputies of the Congress; that of the Parliament of Catalonia and those of the autonomous governments of Andalusia, the Balearic Islands and Madrid. The union aims to promote a joint study and then develop a common doctrine that gives coherence to the different decisions that are issued in the future. Each of the challenges will have an individualized sentence.

The appeal of unconstitutionality of the PP, for example, raises the possible violation of the right to property, the right to effective judicial protection and local autonomy, in a line similar to that of the challenges of the governments of the aforementioned autonomous communities, which also defend their competences in the matter. The Parliament of Catalonia, in turn, emphasizes this point, that the law appealed could be contrary to the regime of distribution of autonomic competences in matters of territorial planning, urban planning and housing.

The housing law was approved by Congress last April by 176 votes in favor, 167 against and one abstention. The PSOE, Unidas Podemos, ERC, Bildu, Más País, Compromís, PRC and Teruel Existe voted in favor. BNG abstained, and even then considered that the legislative text incurred in invasion of competences of the autonomous communities. The PP, Vox, Ciudadanos and Foro Asturias opposed the law, as well as the PNV, Junts, PDeCAT, the CUP and Coalición Canaria, which also influenced the invasion of competence as the main defect of the law.

The admission to processing of the appeals filed against the housing law comes after a few months marked by intense controversy over the usefulness of the approved rules to facilitate access to housing, contain rental prices and prevent illegal occupation. Shortly after the law was approved, the secretary of housing of the PP, Ana María Zurita, said ―in a day organized by Esade― that it was necessary to repeal the new norm, because it is "harmful" and "carcinogenic". Zurita added that the approved text was almost an ideological "pamphlet" that generates legal uncertainty and invades regional competences and harms homeowners.

ERC and Bildu defended in Congress the agreements reached for the approval of the law and the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, and the Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, presented the text. The latter said that until then housing in Spain had simply become a "big business" supported by the "consensus of the ball" and "speculation". The Minister of Transport, in turn, explained that the law seeks to "promote social cohesion, seek equity and guarantee the right of access to housing." Sánchez added that the new regulations were necessary to change a market "too prone to generate phenomena of speculation and blind to the barriers to access to housing for large sectors."

In view of these precedents, sources of the Constitutional Court itself admit that the court now faces, by admitting the appeals presented, the challenge of pacifying a debate, that of access to housing, which in political headquarters highlighted the existence of irreconcilable positions. After admissibility, the parties will be asked to submit arguments and a rapporteur will now be appointed for each of the challenges presented.

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