Junts maintains the no: the decree extending rents in Congress hangs by a thread
The housing package also includes limiting rent increases to 2% in the face of soaring prices
MadridTwo housing measures hang by a thread: the extraordinary extension of rental contracts ending between March 22, 2026, and December 31, 2027, and the limitation of the annual update of contracts to 2% to avoid inflation hikes due to the war in the Middle East. Both proposals are included in the Spanish government's decree to address, precisely, the economic shock of the war on housing, particularly on rents, and which the Congress votes on this Tuesday. Nothing suggests, however, that it will prosper.
Beyond PP and Vox, Junts has stated that it will vote against the package of measures. "In the terms it is [the decree], we will not vote for it, as we have said from day one," Junts sources indicated on Monday afternoon. In fact, last February Junts already rejected the omnibus decree which included the increase in pensions, but also housing measures such as the prohibition of evicting some vulnerable families. Finally, the Spanish government broke down the regulation.
Hours before Junts' no, the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy (Sumar), stated in an interview to
Hours before Junts' 'no', the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy (Sumar), assured in an interview on La Hora de la 1 on TVE that some of Junts' proposals are "viable". "Some tax measures [...] are acceptable", indicated Bustinduy, referring to the proposals affecting the taxation of the self-employed. "We will work until the last moment of the vote to reach an agreement [...] We believe that with determined political will, a pact can be reached", insisted ministry sources this Monday afternoon.
In recent days, from the ministry headed by Bustinduy, messages have been continuously sent about the impact that the derailment of the decree could have on tenants. For example, last Friday the ministry sent a letter to 541 real estate agencies and investment funds that manage 50 or more properties each, informing them that they must obligatorily extend the contracts of tenants whose leases expire between March 22, 2026, and December 31, 2027, if they have requested it.
¿What does the decree include?
On the one hand, the decree includes limiting the annual update of rental contracts indexed to the CPI to 2% (this affects contracts signed before May 2023, when the reference index of the new state housing law began to be applied). In March, the average inflation rate stood at 3.4%, and this April it is expected to reach almost 4% due to the rise in energy prices caused by the war. On the other hand, it includes an extraordinary extension of up to two years of the terms and conditions of the rental contract in case it ends before December 31, 2027.