The automatic extension of rents fell this Tuesday in Congress. The Chamber repealed the decree-law with the measure, approved to prevent the renewal of contracts signed during the pandemic from leading to unaffordable increases for Spanish households.
The repeal also ends the maximum limit of 2% on rent increases in annual updates. The decree-law was rejected by the vote of PP, Vox, and Junts. The PNV decided to abstain.
A cost of about 2,000 euros per year per household
The Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, defended the decree-law, calling the groups' decision not to support its validation an "extraordinary error," as it would lead to rent increases for thousands upon thousands of tenants.
Its Ministry calculates that the automatic renewal of contracts affects one million homes in which 2.7 million people live. Even more so the cap of 2%, applied to the update of any contract.
The repeal, Bustinduy assured, will mean an additional outlay of more than 2,000 euros per year for an average household, but in the most tense areas the increase can mean up to 700 euros more per month. "Think if those families will understand your arguments to vote 'no'," criticized the minister.
"Where is the Minister of Housing?"
No minister from the PSOE attended the debate. The decree-law in question originates from the victory in the power struggle by the ministers of Sumar, who threatened not to attend the extraordinary Council that approved the economic response to the war in Iran. A month later, the roles seemed to have reversed.
The situation did not go unnoticed. "Where is the Minister of Housing?", asked Daniel Pérez Osma, from the PP. "She has gone so much into the background that she hasn't even come to defend this decree", reproached the Compromís deputy, Àgueda Micó.
Since its approval, the decree-law remained in the hands of Junts, which always showed its reticence. In the debate, its Housing spokesperson, Marta Madrenas, called the decree-law a "propaganda operation", justified its rejection due to technical deficiencies and asked for tax reductions for owners and tenants to approve measures regarding housing.
Pérez Osma, from the PP, summarized his criticism of the decree-law by stating that each intervention measure implies the reduction of supply and, consequently, the rise in prices. And Carlos Hernández Quero, from Vox, requested structural measures, including the closure of borders.
Minimum measures
The defenses of the decree-law insisted that the measures are not novel. They were already approved by Congress in recent years. Up to eight times, Bustinduy estimated. However, the measure fails now, in a much more critical situation, something the minister attributed to "tacticism".
Both Gabriel Rufián (ERC) and Oskar Matute (EH-Bildu) defended that the automatic renewal of contracts and the 2% cap do not represent a loss for large funds. If anything, a reduction in income. "This decree contains neither expropriations nor 'zero' caps," argued Rufián, who displayed a 50 euro bill on the platform to accuse Junts of sharing that flag, the flag of money, with PP and Vox.
Bustinduy asked for a final turn to refute one by one the parties against the validation. He particularly attacked PP and Vox for boasting about defending Spanish citizens against migrants and then positioning themselves in favor of foreign investment funds. "There is no disguise, no flag, nor any bracelet that can cover that," he told them.