The president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, defended this Monday the housing strategy of his Executive, which has already put more than 1,200 properties on the market at affordable prices, against "buying a penthouse for more than 6 million euros for the president of a regional government of the moment."
During the closing of the presentation of the portal of the new public housing company Casa 47, Sánchez reproached that, while citizens "look for a few meters to live, she (referring to the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, whom he did not mention) wanted 200 just to go out to the terrace."
With these words, he referred to the controversy generated by the purchase of a penthouse by the Community of Madrid for more than 6 million euros to, according to the regional government, house administrative offices and which has finally been put up for sale.
Sánchez denounced that for too many people in Spain finding housing has become "a sort of obstacle course," since in some cases the payment for the house takes more than half of the salary, a room costs what a complete house used to cost, or ads proliferate under "absolutely impossible" conditions.
In his speech, he emphasized that "and summarizes something that seems to me to be of great importance, because it is a tremendous injustice that having a decent home has become, for too many people, an idealistic and almost impossible aspiration. And I refuse to accept it."
Casa 47: 800 public housing units already on the portal
In his view, the objective of Casa 47, the State Entity for Housing and Land created a few months ago, is to expand and facilitate access to housing. This entity is now launching the first portal of the state public park, which already offers 800 housing units and will soon add another 1,500 spread throughout the country. "It is essential that this offer continues to grow. And it will, increasingly in a much more intense way. With new houses and apartments available every quarter," he emphasized.
The head of the Executive explained that, thanks to Casa 47, any citizen will be able to easily consult the available offer and request the housing that best fits their needs and possibilities, "with an agile and transparent procedure to know at all times how the allocation process is progressing."
He also recalled that the homes of Casa 47 will be permanently protected, that the rent will be set according to the characteristics of the property and the economic situation of each municipality and territory, and that the beneficiaries will not have to allocate more than 30% of their income to pay the rent. Furthermore, the contracts will start with an initial duration of 14 years, extendable up to 75.
Sánchez stated that the housing market "is broken, is dislocated" and that this Government "is not going to step aside," thus claiming public intervention "with all possible tools" and with a volume of resources "unprecedented," after multiplying the housing budget by eight and advancing the first state law in this area. "A market that excludes hundreds of thousands of families from an essential right is a market that does not work," he affirmed.
The president also emphasized the need to promote the construction of affordable housing and defended the State Housing Plan 2026-2030, endowed with 7 billion euros and which, after "a lot of noise," ended up being signed by all the regional governments.
In this context, he highlighted that more than 120,000 affordable rental homes have already been mobilized and that only in the first quarter of this year, 2,800 new homes were tendered, reaching "the largest volume of public tender in 18 years."
Likewise, he criticized the executives who allowed the extensive public housing stock to end up, in some cases, "in the so-called vulture funds, those that prioritize speculation over human dignity." "I never believe that something like this should happen again, that we must draw lessons from all these accumulated mistakes," he insisted.
Isabel Rodríguez demands more regional and local involvement
The Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, who participated in the event "More public housing, more affordable housing," defended the purchase of properties to put them on the market at moderate prices, a process that is not immediate although it may seem so, because "some easily buy private housing with public money," she said in reference to the penthouse acquired by the Community of Madrid.
Rodríguez also called for the cooperation of autonomous communities and municipalities to fully assume their responsibilities and offer real solutions to the citizens.
"We thank those who are using all the available tools to increase the supply of affordable or regular housing, meanwhile, the rental price freezing the same, against others who have decided to do nothing, do nothing when they do not call foreign investors to buy our entire neighborhoods or allocate, as I said before, everyone’s money to buy a large attic for their use, we still do not know what for or with what procedure," he emphasized.
Finally, he advanced that Casa 47 will soon announce public-private collaboration initiatives and appealed to the Congress of Deputies and all parliamentary groups to reach a consensus that allows for the advancement of new measures in housing matters.