New decree for housing, legislating by way of emotions

It is deeply embarrassing that the eviction of this elderly lady in Madrid was necessary for everyone to suddenly rush to action. Firstly, because it is not serious, and secondly, for those who claim they have been warning us for a long time, because an anti-eviction decree will soften the blow, but it is not the solution to the housing problem.

It is worth remembering that, without going any further, more than 7,000 evictions occur per year in Catalonia, approximately three-quarters of which are due to non-payment of rent. I mean that we have had the problem on the table for many years, and the fact that there is now a last-minute negotiating effort due to the social impact caused by the eviction in Madrid confirms that politics is aimed at emotions and not at solutions. We admit that solving the housing problem is not easy when it turns out that it has erupted all over the world, but precisely for that reason, those who have not done their homework in recent decades can only aspire to apply patches, which is what will happen now if the decree is approved.

Now, instead of a social discussion, we have a partisan one, which is the worst we could have: how will Pedro Sánchez's government manage to approve a decree with an investiture bloc where the right and left are at odds? Because the way politics is practiced nowadays, agreement is presented as a weakness, and not even a policy as basic to people's lives (I am no longer talking about well-being, I am talking about people's lives) is saved from this condemnation, both for their present and their future. It is, keeping in mind the differences, the same thing that happens with education in Catalonia.

If you want the minute-by-minute update on the negotiations, you will be interested to know what Núria Orriols is reporting today from Madrid:

Junts, which in the previous decree vote voted alongside the PP and Vox against the extension of the moratorium on increases approved in 2020 during the pandemic, is now proposing to the Spanish government an anti-eviction measure that distinguishes between small and large property owners, that vulture funds may not purchase housing, and a 15% personal income tax (IRPF) deduction for the rental or purchase of a primary residence. Junts' idea is that “while workers, the self-employed, and small property owners are becoming impoverished as they see their disposable income reduced, the public treasury does not stop increasing its revenue as a result of inflation,” and this would justify this 15% personal income tax deduction for the acquisition of a primary residence or for housing intended for habitual rental, excluding seasonal or tourist rentals.

It is fine to prevent dramatic situations with emergency actions, but negotiating forced by a shocking news story on such a sensitive issue is the real drama. Either they act generously or the housing market, as we have it here, will continue to run over them and US.

Good morning.