Sumar, the party of the Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, has presented a bill in the Congress of Deputies that will be debated and voted on in the plenary session to be held this Tuesday, November 25. With it, it aims to modify the Housing Law so that companies, foundations, legal entities and investment funds are prohibited from buying houses in Spain.
The initiative is promoted by the Sumar Housing spokesperson and Compromís deputy, Alberto Ibáñez and seeks to “put a stop to real estate speculation.” This issue worries the different groups that make up the Lower House and a few weeks ago, it was the ERC spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, who defended the payment of a progressive tax of 4% from the third home.
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The rental law confirms this: the tenant can stay in the home for up to 8 years if the landlord does not notify him 4 months in advance that he does not want to renew.
Now, the focus is on the so-called ‘vulture funds‘ and in REITs (Listed Joint Stock Companies for Investment in the Real Estate Market). Ibáñez defends, according to Europa Press, that the entire plurinational group considers it “urgent and a priority” to limit the accumulation of housing “in a few hands.”
Housing as a right and not as a financial asset
The bill presented by Sumar is based on a clear idea which is that the “right to use and enjoy housing corresponds to natural persons, not to entities whose main objective is to obtain economic performance through the massive purchase of real estate.”
Furthermore, according to the pink party, the growing presence of large holders and investment companies is distorting the market, restricting the supply available for real residential use and fueling price escalation. For this reason, this formation wants to restrict the formation of home ownership, both in sales and donations, exclusively to natural persons.
Legal entities may acquire properties that are not residential in nature, but are linked to economic activities in the primary, secondary or tertiary sector.
Sumar defends that the proposal is constitutional
Ibáñez has defended that the measure has a “constitutional fit” and in European law. He affirms that it is a “simple, conservative and viable” proposal and is confident of obtaining sufficient support for it to be admitted for processing.
Although Sumar is willing to open the debate on the maximum number of homes that a natural person can have, he has recognized that on this point there is no political consensus. Yes, there is about the need to stop speculation by investment funds and companies.
Regarding support, the Compromís deputy highlights that there is a potential majority “from the extreme right to the parliamentary left” that is willing to support limiting the role of large investors in the real estate market.
“I am convinced that PNV and Junts feel comfortable saying goodbye to vulture funds,” he assured.