The plenary session of the Parliament has given the green light this Wednesday for the single-reading processing of the bill promoted by the Comuns to adopt containment measures against speculation in tense market areas.
The initiative has prospered with the support of PSC-Units, ERC, Comuns, and the CUP, while Junts, PP, Vox, and Aliança Catalana (AC) have voted against it.
This vote comes after Junts and PP announced this Tuesday that they have sent the text to the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (CGE), understanding that it raises issues that, in their opinion, violate rights and clash with the Constitution.
Despite the decision of Junts and PP, the plenary session has agreed to continue the processing by single reading. From now on, parliamentary groups will be able to register amendments and, in a later phase, they will be able to submit the norm to the CGE again, whose opinions are not binding.
Processing and effects on the calendar
The fact that these groups have decided to take the proposal to the consultative body will foreseeably postpone the eventual final approval of the law until after the summer, coinciding with the start of the new session period.
The text proposes a modification of the Urban Planning Law so that, in areas classified as tense residential market zones, municipalities have the possibility to limit speculative housing purchases through urban planning. Thus, housing could only be acquired to be used as a primary residence for oneself or a family member, or to be rented as permanent housing, respecting in any case the established rent price limits.
Likewise, it contemplates that, exceptionally, a dwelling other than the habitual one may be acquired when it is the buyer's only second residence and is located in another municipality. The bill also toughens the sanctioning regime of the law by classifying as very serious infractions both the non-compliance with these restrictions and the use of simulated legal transactions in order to evade them.