The stressed residential market areas and the limit on rents practically die before they are born. The most controversial measure of the new Housing Law can almost say goodbye to its effects after the electoral results of the last autonomic and municipal elections of 28M. The Popular Party had already stressed that it would not apply this measure in the Autonomous Regions and city councils where it governs, and after the votes, the map of Spain may turn blue in up to 11 Autonomous Regions, with the support of Vox. The announcement of the electoral advance of the general elections to July 23 could even lead to the repeal of the Housing Law, in case the PP wins.
The new Housing Law came into force last Friday, May 26, just two days before the last regional and municipal elections. The unblocking of this bill, which had been stuck in the Congress of Deputies for more than a year, just before these elections was used by right-wing and left-wing parties during the campaign to announce who was going to apply or not the most controversial measures, above all, the creation of stressed market zones and, therefore, the control of rental prices.
The PP, the main opposition party to the central government, has already announced that in the regions where it governs, the declaration of stressed residential market zones will not be applied. If before 28M, the ‘popular’ communities of Madrid, Andalusia, Galicia or Castilla y León confirmed their refusal to the cap on rents, after the elections the Valencian Community, Cantabria, the Balearic Islands, Extremadura and Aragón will join them, although they depend on agreements with Vox. In La Rioja, the PP has obtained an absolute majority, as in Madrid, while in the Canary Islands, the contribution of the Popular Party will be key to allow Coalición Canaria to govern, to the detriment of the PSOE and its partners, who have not achieved the necessary majority to remain in government. Although there is still another party left to, at least, abstain in the legislature vote, which has to come from Vox or the Agrupación Socialista Gomera (ASG).
The announcement by President Pedro Sanchez of bringing forward the general elections, scheduled for the end of 2023, to next July 23 could even mean the total repeal of the Law on the Right to Housing, in the event that the Popular Party wins the next elections and is able to form a government.
The PP has called for the repeal of the Housing Law. This very week it is presenting a non-legislative proposal in which it calls for the repeal of the recently approved Housing Law and also the implementation of an ‘anti-occupation’ plan that would allow evictions within 24 hours.
The Popular Party defends its repeal because it considers that it includes measures «interventionist and contrary to individual freedom» and that it will contract the supply of the housing market.
It also proposes to promote a State Pact for Housing with the main objective of facilitating access to housing for young people, with aid both for renting and buying, in order to close the emancipation gap that exists with respect to the European Union.
But it is one thing not to apply the measures that depended on the autonomous initiative and another to repeal the Law. Because, what will happen with the management of evictions if the law changes, and with the updating of leases? Let us remember that until December 31, 2023 it remains at 2%, it will be 3% in 2024 and there will be a new index from 2025. We will have to be attentive to the electoral programs of the political parties in the next two months.
