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Spain Rolls Out Housing Decree Ahead of Crucial Vote
(MENAFN) Spain published a sweeping housing decree on Wednesday that tightens protections for tenants and restricts property investors, as protests continued in Madrid and Malaga and lawmakers prepared for a decisive parliamentary vote on Friday.
The 20-article decree appeared in the Official State Gazette and takes effect Thursday. It covers evictions, rents, taxation and affordable housing.
Its most far-reaching provision targets so-called "vulture funds." Until the end of 2028, companies and other entities whose business includes acquiring real estate will be barred from buying homes for less than 70% of their appraised market value. Social and affordable housing are among the exemptions.
The decree also suspends certain evictions through 2030 for vulnerable people who have no alternative housing, and imposes tighter rules on temporary and room rentals.
Temporary contracts will need a genuine, demonstrable reason for their temporary status. Repeated or unjustifiably long temporary contracts can be treated as ordinary residential leases. For room rentals, the combined rent for individual rooms cannot exceed what the property could fetch if let as a whole.
Rent increases face further limits through the end of 2027. Where rent already sits above the applicable reference-price ceiling, no increase is allowed. In other cases, increases cannot exceed 2% without a fresh agreement between landlord and tenant.
A second decree, expected Thursday, would provide for automatic renewal of rental contracts. According to media, landlords who choose not to renew a lease after the mandatory rental period would generally have to pay tenants compensation of at least 12 months' rent. Exceptions include cases where the owner, or certain family members, need the home.
Both decrees face an extraordinary ratification vote in parliament on Friday.
Protests build in Madrid and Malaga
The measures arrive amid days of housing protests. Demonstrators spent a fourth night camped in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol, where the movement swelled after the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who had lived in her home for more than 70 years.
In Malaga, a parallel camp continued in Plaza de la Constitucion on Wednesday, with about 50 people in roughly 25 tents spending the night. Organizers are also preparing a housing demonstration in the southern city on Saturday.
Passage far from certain
The government cannot count on ratification. In April, Congress rejected a similar housing decree, voting 177-166 against validating it.
Opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said his conservative Popular Party will vote against both decrees, calling the package a "trap."
"Don't count on me to rip off anyone," he said, arguing that the government should instead focus on building more housing.
The 20-article decree appeared in the Official State Gazette and takes effect Thursday. It covers evictions, rents, taxation and affordable housing.
Its most far-reaching provision targets so-called "vulture funds." Until the end of 2028, companies and other entities whose business includes acquiring real estate will be barred from buying homes for less than 70% of their appraised market value. Social and affordable housing are among the exemptions.
The decree also suspends certain evictions through 2030 for vulnerable people who have no alternative housing, and imposes tighter rules on temporary and room rentals.
Temporary contracts will need a genuine, demonstrable reason for their temporary status. Repeated or unjustifiably long temporary contracts can be treated as ordinary residential leases. For room rentals, the combined rent for individual rooms cannot exceed what the property could fetch if let as a whole.
Rent increases face further limits through the end of 2027. Where rent already sits above the applicable reference-price ceiling, no increase is allowed. In other cases, increases cannot exceed 2% without a fresh agreement between landlord and tenant.
A second decree, expected Thursday, would provide for automatic renewal of rental contracts. According to media, landlords who choose not to renew a lease after the mandatory rental period would generally have to pay tenants compensation of at least 12 months' rent. Exceptions include cases where the owner, or certain family members, need the home.
Both decrees face an extraordinary ratification vote in parliament on Friday.
Protests build in Madrid and Malaga
The measures arrive amid days of housing protests. Demonstrators spent a fourth night camped in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol, where the movement swelled after the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who had lived in her home for more than 70 years.
In Malaga, a parallel camp continued in Plaza de la Constitucion on Wednesday, with about 50 people in roughly 25 tents spending the night. Organizers are also preparing a housing demonstration in the southern city on Saturday.
Passage far from certain
The government cannot count on ratification. In April, Congress rejected a similar housing decree, voting 177-166 against validating it.
Opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said his conservative Popular Party will vote against both decrees, calling the package a "trap."
"Don't count on me to rip off anyone," he said, arguing that the government should instead focus on building more housing.
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