The Spanish government revealed on Tuesday a series of measures aimed at regulating rents, within the framework of an agreement between both parties of the left-wing coalition in power, which opens the way to the budget project.
This package of measures, ratified at the end of tense negotiations between the Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his radical left ally Podemos, is due to be officially adopted on Thursday in the Council of Ministers.
Means a "unprecedented milestone in legislative action" and goes to "facilitate access to housing, especially for those most vulnerable to precariousness", including young people, said Sánchez in an economic forum.
On Twitter, the Minister of Equality Irene Montero, a member of Podemos, said that "the law will force large landlords to lower abusive rental prices".
"Public housing and protection against evictions. Guarantee housing as a right and stop vultures and speculators"he added on Twitter.
The government did not specify for now the nature of the mechanism that it will apply to regulate rents or the type of owners concerned.
But according to the newspaper El PaÃs, this measure will result in a regulation of rents for the owners of more than 10 homes, based on benchmarks installed in 2020.
The law also ratifies the construction of some 20,000 social housing and the rehabilitation of entire neighborhoods, according to the executive, for an amount of 1,000 million euros.
It provides subsidies for owners who agree to rehabilitate their homes, and aid of 250 euros per month for two years for young people who have limited resources.
"In the case of the most vulnerable families, it may be supplemented with more direct rent aids of up to 40%"said the government statement.
The regulation of rents has long been demanded by Podemos, which conditioned its support for the 2022 budget project on an agreement by its socialist partner for this key measure.
Sánchez’s minority government will have to negotiate with several small parties, including ERC’s Catalan independentists, to ensure that its budget can be voted on in Parliament.
Prices in the residential real estate sector have risen sharply during the health crisis in Spain, due to the imbalance between the demand and supply of housing.
This situation led the inhabitants of several cities to demonstrate in the spring to demand the regulation of rents.
.