Review the obligation of 30% protected housing and more tax incentives, the Chamber's recipes to promote rent

BarcelonaThe Barcelona Chamber of Commerce presented its plan this Wednesday to combat the housing crisis. The business entity announced a set of 20 "structural" measures to face the challenge that it represents for the country. According to the Chamber, the objectives of the initiative are to "sustainably increase the housing supply, reinforce legal certainty, and guarantee access to decent housing for all citizens". Estimates collected by the entity indicate that in the next five years, more than 180,000 new housing needs will have to be met.

As the institution points out, the proposed measures "combine actions in the areas of regulation, taxation, financing, and public-private collaboration, with a long-term vision that allows balancing the free market with protected housing and guaranteeing the stability of housing policies beyond political cycles". Among the proposals, the Chamber advocates for the effective reduction of licensing periods, the reform of urban planning legislation to streamline the modification of plans and avoid total annulments due to rectifiable formal defects, as well as greater flexibility in changing the use of empty commercial premises and offices for housing. Furthermore, they also call for a review of the obligation for 30% protected housing in Barcelona.

In this context, the Chamber has also formalized the creation of the Housing Observatory, a tool with which they aim to analyze the evolution of the sector and formulate action proposals based on "public-private collaboration".

Excess bureaucracy

In fiscal matters, the Chamber advocates for tax reductions to promote affordable housing, tax incentives to bring housing in tense areas to the rental market, and specific measures to facilitate access to first homes, especially for young people and families with medium and low incomes. On the other hand, regarding financing, the institution advocates for expanding subsidized credit lines through the Official Credit Institute (ICO) and the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), progressively increasing public spending on housing to match the European average, and specifically supporting urban rehabilitation and regeneration projects.

The entity also focuses its attention on the "obstacle" posed by bureaucracy. Specifically, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce considers that administrative complexity, the fragmentation of competences, and the excessive duration of procedures are the main brakes on housing production and points out that, in order for there to be an increase in supply, a simplification of urban and environmental procedures is necessary. The organization, however, remarks that "administrative simplification must not imply a reduction in guarantees, but rather a better organization of public control, based on the principle of proportionality, legal certainty, and technical responsibility".