The Government will intervene in the rental market to prevent fraud and deploy tax incentives to stabilise prices

The Executive announces the start of work on Operation Campamento in Madrid, with 10,700 affordable homes, thanks to the promotion of the new State Housing Entity, Casa 47.

Teniente Muñoz Castellanos Barracks, Madrid

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, speaks at the ceremony marking the start of the demolition work on the buildings of the Campamento barracks (Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that the Council of Ministers will approve a Royal Decree-Law with new measures to improve access to housing and provide greater security for tenants and landlords. In this way, the Government will continue to curb speculation in the rental market and protect families from real estate abuses.

Deployment of tax incentives to avoid price rises in rental renewals

Firstly, this RDL will deploy, through the IRPF, a system of tax incentives aimed at landlords in order to curb the rise in rental renewal prices. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people sign or renew their rental contracts in an increasingly voracious market. To address price increases and increase the stability of contracts, tax incentives will be modulated in favour of the extension, renewal and signing of new affordable and stable rents. The aim of this measure is to expand the supply in the rental market and to provide a more secure environment for the life projects of young people and families.

Market intervention to prevent fraud in seasonal rentals

Secondly, seasonal rentals will be regulated to put an end to their fraudulent and speculative use, which is becoming increasingly widespread in large cities. In Madrid, the supply has tripled compared to 2023, and in cities such as Barcelona, Cádiz and San Sebastián, seasonal contracts represent around eight out of every ten advertisements on real estate portals. This will protect tenants from unstable short-term contracts that are renewed every year, avoiding indiscriminate annual rent increases when there is a desire for habitual residence. In addition, price controls will be extended to temporary contracts in those autonomous communities that have declared stressed zones and a sanctioning regime will be created for those who do not comply with the state regulation on short-term rentals.

With this, the Government is responding to one of the main demands of neighbourhood organisations and to defend the right to housing.

Curbing room rent abuse

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, greets the representatives of the neighborhood associations of Campamento| Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

Thirdly, the rental market will be organised on a room-by-room basis to prevent the fragmentation of flats in order to circumvent residential rental regulations and increase rents. To curb this abuse, the guarantees for regular rentals will be extended to room rentals, limiting the rent for the room set to that of the entire housing contract. In addition, in areas declared to be under stress, room contracts will be subject to rent control under the Housing Act.

New Campamento Neighbourhood

Along with the announcement of the new RDL, the Executive has started the works of Operation Campamento in Madrid. This unblocked a project whose origins date back to 1989. The new Campamento neighbourhood will be home to 10,700 affordable public housing units protected against speculation. Behind this impulse is Casa 47, the new State Housing Entity.

With all these measures, which will have to be validated by the Lower House of Parliament, the Government continues to make progress in its objective of expanding the supply of housing, improving market regulation and strengthening the protection of tenants and landlords. This is a further step towards addressing the global challenge of access to housing and realising the right to decent and affordable housing.

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• Aid from the Immediate Response, Reconstruction and Relaunching Plan

Tags:

• Government of Spain
• Law
• Housing
• Social