The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, presented this Monday twelve new measures regarding housing at the closing ceremony of the forum 'Housing: fifth pillar of the Welfare State' aimed at increasing the number of homes, improving regulation and providing more aid to citizens.
"In the last decade, the average housing prices in Europe have grown by 48%, if we compare it with the evolution of household income we see that it is absolutely unbearable," said the president.
Among the measures announced, the 100% tax exemption in the IRPF stands out for owners who put apartments for rent according to the Reference Price Index, which the Government commissioned to the National Institute of Statistics and which amounted to 2.2% last month.
The president has also announced a strong limitation on the purchase of housing by non-resident non-EU foreigners, who will have to pay a 100% tax levy when they buy a house in Spain.
He has also reported the transfer of homes and land to the new Public Housing Company. The General State Administration has just transferred more than 3,300 homes and nearly two million square meters of residential land to build affordable rental housing. To these will be added 13,000 homes from SAREB now and another 17,000 progressively.
In addition, the new Public Housing Company will have priority when buying houses and land, in addition to the right of the autonomous communities.
He also explained that a shielding of public housing will be carried out, since the State will indefinitely maintain its public ownership.
On the other hand, a public-private collaboration plan will be launched to build houses in less time and with less costs, which, in principle, will focus on the province of Valencia to contribute to the recovery after the DANA.
A guarantee system is also created to protect owners and tenants who participate in affordable rent. The system will ensure the owner the collection of the rent and the tenant a greater offer. The measure will begin for apartments rented to people under 35 years and has already been successfully implemented in France.
Another measure is the creation of a new program to rehabilitate empty homes that are destined for affordable rent for at least 5 years.
In addition, it will propose to Congress that homes for tourist use be considered businesses and taxed as an economic activity.
Also, the tax advantages of the SOCIMIS will be conditioned to the promotion of affordable rental housing.
Finally, the regulation that persecutes fraud in seasonal rentals will be tightened and a fund will be created for local governments to reinforce inspections.