The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has proposed a system of tax bonuses aimed at small owners who choose to link rent increases to the CPI or keep rents frozen, while he has insisted on the need to intervene in the real estate market to facilitate access to housing.
"What we have to do is unite them with tax incentives," he stated in an interview on the podcast 'Keep it cutre', in reference to small owners and tenants, considering that the two groups should not be set against each other.
Sánchez has detailed that these bonuses would serve to compensate owners who keep rental prices or limit increases to the cost of living.
The head of the Executive has also stressed the importance of increasing the stock of protected housing and has warned that currently only between 5% and 6% of the new homes built each year are protected or affordable.
"We have to build more housing, but, by the way, we have to build more protected housing," he emphasized, before pointing out that, if that proportion is maintained, "we are doing little."
Sánchez has likewise defended the advisability of establishing clear rules in the real estate market through tools that provide transparency on prices, such as reference indices in the areas where citizens seek to buy or rent. In his view, having that data, prepared by a public body, gives citizens "bargaining power" that they now lack.
Along these lines, he has insisted that regulation must go hand in hand with an increase in the housing supply and has recalled that the Government repealed the so-called 'Golden Visa'.
Long-term contracts and control over funds
Regarding rental contracts, Sánchez has indicated that the debate on indefinite contracts "is on the table" and has mentioned the possibility of introducing automatic extensions, although he has admitted that specific situations must be considered, such as the owner needing the home to live in it or deciding to sell it. "Proposing long-term contracts so that you are not at the mercy of it," he summarized.
On the other hand, he has called for the need to limit the actions of investment funds that buy homes for merely speculative purposes and has recalled that the Government's housing decree included a definition of a vulture fund with the aim of curbing their abusive practices.
Sánchez has also reproached that many administrations with powers in housing are not using the legal tools already available and has lamented that several royal decree laws promoted by the Executive in this matter have been rejected in the Congress.