Mortgage and rent to be deduced: Junts presents alternative to PSOE and Sumar housing decree

MadridSumar has initiated a round of contacts to secure sufficient support to validate the extension of rental agreements, which is to be voted on in Congress on April 28. This is an essential step for the decree-law approved by the Spanish government following the Iran war on housing matters to remain in force. Yolanda Díaz's party assures that negotiations are open with Junts and they see "water in the pool," but Míriam Nogueras's party is by no means in line with this: they maintain their 'no' to the extension of rental agreements and have presented an alternative in housing policies to address the crisis generated by the conflict in the Middle East, which directly clashes with what the Spanish government is doing. The Junts members, therefore, would only be open to discussion if the PSOE and Sumar accept their "emergency" measures and withdraw their decree.

in line with what Carles Puigdemont's party also proposes this Wednesday in Parliament. Beyond these deductions for habitual residence, they also propose a legal change affecting older people. They propose adding an article to the IRPF regulations to specify that the house where they were living immediately before entering a residence or socio-sanitary center will be considered "habitual residence." This is a measure to prevent it from being taxed by the IRPF in case it is sold (habitual residence is excluded). According to the party, until now, the Tax Agency was interpreting that it ceased to be their residence and was counted in income tax declaration taxation.

In this way, Junts presents its own "urgent" housing measures and contrasts them with what Sumar and the PSOE approved by extending rent controls. In the opinion of the Junts members, these policies are detrimental to the rental supply and transfer the responsibility from public administration to private entities. On the contrary, they believe the solution lies in lowering taxes, in line with what Carles Puigdemont's party also proposes this Wednesday in Parliament. For Junts, while the inflation process affects disposable family income, the State increases its revenue precisely from the context of the Iran war. The non-binding proposal states the following: "While workers, the self-employed, and small business owners are impoverished by seeing their disposable income reduced, the public treasury continues to increase its revenue from inflation." "The State must return the money to the citizens," say Junts sources, while the Spanish government recalls that taxes are to finance public services.

Sumar maintains the pressure

In an interview on TVE, the Minister of Culture and of Sumar, Ernest Urtasun, has defended the extension of rent controls and has once again encouraged citizens to request it from their landlords, despite the fact that the measure may lapse at the end of April. "I call on all political forces so that the measure does not lapse. We are negotiating," he stated, despite having denounced that the PP has refused to sit down with them to talk about it. Regarding Junts, Urtasun said he aims to reach an agreement despite everything: "I hope to convince them, it is a positive measure for Catalonia." Junts does not think the same.