Congress has struck down the validation of the decree-law that included the automatic extension of rental contracts expiring between 2026 and 2027. But the Government is not giving up. The initiative was rejected with votes from PP, Vox, and Junts, which represents another setback in its housing agenda.
However, quickly after the vote in the Plenary, the Executive has come to the fore to close ranks around its strategy and has insisted that housing policy will continue to be one of its central priorities, despite the parliamentary blockade that this Tuesday has once again manifested in the Lower House.
Housing maintains its roadmap
Sources from the Ministry of Housing have conveyed to Demócrata minutes after the vote that Congress's rejection will not alter the Government's plans. From the department led by Isabel Rodríguez, they assure this outlet that the Executive will "intensify contacts" with the groups to promote measures aimed at reinforcing tenant protection, containing rental prices, and expanding the public housing stock.
In that sense, the Ministry emphasizes that it will continue working on the regulation of seasonal rentals, a formula that it considers partly used fraudulently to evade ordinary leasing regulations.
"Seasonal contracts have a very specific purpose, and cannot be an excuse to impose abusive rent increases," they emphasize.
It also maintains its intention to advance initiatives to reduce pressure on prices, limit speculative practices in the real estate market, and encourage the incorporation of empty homes into the rental market.
The Executive also insists that the increase in the public housing stock will continue to be a "structural" axis of its political action, relying on instruments such as the State Housing Plan, the CASA 47 program, or the PERTE for Housing Industrialization, with the aim of accelerating the supply of affordable housing and reducing dependence on the private market.
Cross-accusations
After the vote, the Government has harshly criticized the opposition. The socialists accuse PP and Vox of having blocked a measure designed to give stability to millions of tenants in a context of sustained rent increases.
Socialist sources explain to Demócrata that the parliamentary rejection evidences a vision of housing centered on its economic dimension and not as a social right, and they accuse the opposition of positioning itself on the side of large property owners and investment funds.
"They don't apply the Housing Law where they govern, but they treat public housing as if it were their own private estate," they criticize.
For this reason, from the PSOE they assure that they maintain as a priority objective to consolidate housing as the fifth pillar of the Welfare State, through the expansion of public housing and the structural reinforcement of protected housing on a permanent basis.
Bustinduy advances that they will present the initiative again "as many times as necessary"
In parallel, the minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, has lashed out at PP and Vox, assuring that the right-wing parties "have abandoned three million compatriots to their fate" by preventing the validation of the decree-law.
Bustinduy has defended that the measure sought to prevent thousands of families from facing "abusive" rent increases or the risk of losing their homes. According to what he stated, the vote evidences a "radical disconnection" between part of the political class and the needs of the working citizenry.
In his statements, Bustinduy has assured that the Executive will not renounce the measure and that it will once again promote similar initiatives "as many times as necessary" until parliamentary support is achieved.