Spain’s left-wing government finally approved its flagship housing law on Wednesday, which notably includes rent control in tense areas, ten days before municipal and regional elections on May 28. The text, presented by the executive as the “very first housing law” in Spain since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975, was approved at the end of April by the deputies. It received the green light from the Senate on Wednesday with 134 votes in favor of 252.
With this text, “housing will cease to be a luxury good to become a right,” the President of the Socialist Government, Pedro Sánchez, greeted a “historic day” on Twitter. The Spanish government wanted a rapid approval of this text, so that it can enter into force before the elections on May 28, considered as a first electoral round before the legislative elections at the end of the year.
Owners fear supply shortages
The law, which is part of the reform package promised to Brussels in exchange for funds from the post-Covid recovery megaplan, should help people who have difficulties finding housing, limiting real estate speculation and developing the offer in “tense” areas. . The result of lengthy negotiations between the Socialists and the radical left-wing party Podemos, partners in the Government, plans to limit the rise in rents, usually indexed to inflation, to 3% in 2024 -a new rent review index will be created to 2025 .
It also gives regional authorities the power to classify neighborhoods where particularly high prices force tenants to move into “tight areas,” to control rents and develop housing supply there. Finally, it penalizes landlords who leave multiple homes empty, extends the eviction freeze for vulnerable tenants, and requires that people threatened with eviction be informed of the exact date and time they must leave the premises.
This law has aroused strong criticism from homeowners’ associations, which have said they fear a shortage of housing supply. The text will be applied “until the last comma,” however, assured Ione Belarra, Minister of Social Rights and head of Podemos. Rent increases are at the center of concerns in Spain, still traumatized by the 2008 real estate crisis, which left thousands of families on the streets without being able to repay their loans.
Source: BFM TV
