The announcement of the 12 new housing measures by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, is generating debate and there are disparate opinions about how these will help solve one of the problems that most worries the Spanish population. In this sense, the consumer association FACUA is against the exemption from paying personal income tax for “for landlords who do not speculate with their prices adjusting to the reference index, although there is no legal imposition for this.”
Facua has not been the only one to speak out about these measures, the Technicians of the Ministry of Finance (Gestha) have also done so, who despite agreeing with some of the proposed measures, consider that lhe tax proposals cannot be considered a complete solution to address the problems related to housing in Spain.
Continuing with the Consumers in Action association regarding this exemption from paying personal income tax, they warn that “whoever benefits financially from the rental of a property must always pay taxes on it,” and point out that “Exemptions encourage rentierism and reinforce the idea of housing as an investment.”
This is how Facua values the new measures proposed by the Government in terms of housing
Regarding the rest of the measures proposed by Sánchez, Facua considers that, Although they are progress, deeper actions are required to guarantee the right to housing and protect the most vulnerable sectors.
They have positively valued the impossibility of disqualifying public housing promoted by the General Administration of the State. According to the association, this measure prevents those who access these properties from later using them for speculation.
They point out that, although it is a It is an important step for the homes managed by Sareb to be transferred to a new public company dedicated to social rentals, is insufficient. For the association, these initiatives must be complemented with more ambitious policies, such as the expropriation of the use of empty homes in the hands of large owners. “The State must impose that these properties be used for rent at a price regulated by the Administration,” he proposes.
Last October, Facua already conveyed to the president a series of proposals related to housing, among which the nneed to expropriate the use of empty properties for more than one year, property of large holders, to be used for social rent. They insist that this measure is key to increasing the supply of affordable housing and combating speculation.
Also They propose the creation of a compensation system to protect tenants against abusive practices. According to the organization, “landlords who engage in this type of behavior should compensate those affected,” in addition to establishing a limit to avoid price increases higher than the CPI when changing tenants or signing a new contract.
In addition, requests that tenants be recognized as consumers, so that abuses by landlords are considered consumer infractions. This would allow regional authorities to impose sanctions and enable extrajudicial mechanisms to resolve conflicts in a more agile and effective way.