Sánchez finds no support for housing measures

MadridPedro Sánchez cannot find support to move forward with the housing measures he announced almost a month ago. After weeks of tug-of-war with the investiture bloc partners, particularly with Junts, the Spanish government has decided to postpone the approval of the new housing decree until after the summer, which, among other things, was to include an extraordinary extension of rents until 2028, as reported by El País and confirmed by the Ministry of Housing.

The state executive's intention was to approve the decree in this Tuesday's Council of Ministers, coinciding with Pedro Sánchez's review of the political year. However, the decree's approval will not arrive until September, given the difficulty of securing the necessary votes in Congress for its validation, a scenario that would have led the Spanish government to suffer a parliamentary setback.

"The royal housing decree will be approved in September to culminate a broad and transversal agreement," indicate sources from the Ministry of Housing, headed by Isabel Rodríguez (PSOE). "After weeks of intense negotiation, the Ministry of Housing reaffirms its commitment to a broad and transversal agreement to move forward with an ambitious package of measures that will provide stability to renters and promote the supply of affordable housing," they explain from this department, justifying the postponement of the approval by the fact that "it has been noted that rushing the calendar can be an obstacle to agreement, given the complexity of the text".

Access to housing has become one of the main problems for citizens, and Pedro Sánchez has accumulated a list of promises to try to alleviate it. These, however, clash precisely with the weakness felt in Congress, especially since Junts broke ties with the PSOE.

Although the Spanish government defends that Junts' demands had been met, Carles Puigdemont's party does not see it the same way. Junts spokesperson Josep Rius stated at a press conference that the measures proposed by Moncloa "persisted in the error" and called for a "change of course". "Months ago, we registered a package of measures in Congress that are working in Europe to get out of the pit: lowering taxes, deducting rent and mortgages [...] and truly investing in public housing," Junts sources indicated shortly after the decree's postponement was announced.

Although the decree included elements such as tax incentives for landlords, to try to win over Puigdemont's party, it also included proposals that were rejected months ago due to the votes against from PP, Vox, and also Junts, starting with the extraordinary extension of rent agreements. This was a demand from Sumar, the government's minority partner, which wanted the text to be approved again before summer so that the "rent freeze" would become a reality as soon as possible. It was also a demand from Podemos, the other partner with whom Pedro Sánchez has to balance, which, on the other hand, rejects the decree including a modification of the current land law to speed up the construction of buildings. "It is a red line," indicated sources from the purple party. In contrast, Junts has defended "mobilizing land that is currently idle and could accommodate new developments".

Early this Monday, Gerardo Pisarello, a deputy in Congress and spokesperson for Comuns, expressed confidence that this would happen, acknowledging that although he did not like the idea of tax benefits for landlords, it was the price to pay to find consensus with the rest of the forces, referring to Junts. For his part, the minister and spokesperson for Sumar, Ernest Urtasun, stated that "no group has backed down from dialogue". "We are willing to give this time, but I also want to demand that we be as quick as possible," Urtasun indicated.

The Spanish government, therefore, is not giving up. In fact, it sees the housing package as a boost to kick off the academic year in September. Junts sources, on the other hand, are skeptical about them actually presenting a text that convinces them.