Protection against evictions and restrictions on vulture funds: this is the housing decree that the Spanish government is finalizing

MadridThe Spanish government is finalizing the preparation of a housing decree-law to be approved this Tuesday at the Council of Ministers. The PSOE and Sumar are finishing work on the measures that, at the same time, they must agree upon with the partners of the plurinational majority so that the legislative package is also approved by the Congress of Deputies. However, the agreement within the left-wing coalition itself is far off: Sumar says they do not want to yield on the measures they are proposing so that there can also be an agreement with Junts and the PNV. Two parties that, in a month's time, will be essential for the Spanish government's decree-law to be validated in the Spanish lower house. Among the measures being negotiated, as confirmed by Spanish government sources to ARA, are the following:

• Protection against evictions. It remains to be seen what the fine print is so that all the parties that make up the plurinational majority endorse it. Until now, Junts has aligned itself with the PP and Vox to strike down the ban on evictions for vulnerable families, as they are asking to distinguish between large and small property owners. In the case of the latter, the Junts members want the administration to assume the tenant's non-payment.
• Prohibit the speculative purchase of housing by vulture funds. This measure can gather consensus from both the left and Junts and the PNV, since the juntaires themselves have put it on the table.
• Stabilizing rental contracts. This is one of the main demands of the Tenants' Union, who want indefinite contracts, but Junts and the PNV do not look favorably upon this measure. It remains to be seen what fit the Spanish government finds for it.
• Regulation of seasonal rentals in order to put an end to the "fraud", say Housing sources, of this contractual modality, since long-term contracts often end up being chained contracts. This measure has already been worked on in Catalonia.
• The VAT figure is introduced for tourist apartments, so that they are taxed as a "business".
• Tax benefits for tenants, as well as for landlords who lower their rent prices. Junts requested this type of tax incentive, but it remains to be seen if these fit their demands and if they are also accepted by Sumar and Podemos, who were reluctant about them.
• Grants for the purchase of a first home to live in.
• A reduction in VAT for construction is also included if it concerns housing intended to be permanently protected. An incentive for builders to get involved in the construction of new housing intended for social use.

Although the Ministry of Housing is making this list regarding the measures that the housing decree law will include, they also admit that all these points are under "negotiation" with the parliamentary groups and that they still do not have a final text closed. In fact, from within the coalition, Sumar warns that the agreement is still far off. "The text is far from providing a response to complete protection against evictions, the regulation of seasonal and room rentals, or the extension of rental contracts," the party has asserted. The Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, reaffirmed this on social media: "We will not allow the measures demanded by the streets to be diluted, nor will we validate a text that does not live up to expectations".

Podemos has expressed itself in the same vein. Irene Montero, in an interview on TVE, has questioned whether the left should yield its demands to Junts and the PNV, which are necessary to validate the decree-law in Congress once it is approved by the Council of Ministers. "We are on the side of the social majority," summarized Montero, who has not shown herself willing to move in favor of consensus.