Yesterday’s rejection in Congress of the decree containing the extraordinary extension of rents opens a scenario of legal uncertainty that may pit tenants who, while the regulation was in force, requested this two-year contract extension, against the owners of these homes, to which the Government admits there may be lawsuits and trusts that the courts will be in favor of the right to housing.
In this regard, the Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, wanted to convey a message of reassurance to the tenants because, as she pointed out, they have been covered by the validity of the royal decree law. However, there is no consensus among experts on whether the effects of the law remain in force once the decree has been repealed, and the scenario that opens is unprecedented.
The minister, who was interviewed on TVE this morning, believes that if it comes to litigation, there would have to be lawsuits, although she considers that “the courts will be in favor of the right of access to housing for these people and the philosophy of this regulation.”
In any case, the minister has offered the phone number 047 to assist them with their doubts and advise them in case the matter is ultimately judicialized. “We will accompany them, they are not alone,” Rodríguez said, insisting that efforts will continue because the Congress of Deputies must take charge of what today is a social consensus to stop this “voracious” market and provide stability to people who live in rental housing.
The Housing Minister has assured that she will not give up regulating the “wild” rental market and has condemned and reproached the attitude of some political groups that yesterday did not vote in favor of validating the housing decree. She stated that from this morning they will begin working on measures aligned with regulation, incentives, and mobilization of housing for rent, as she indicated.
For his part, the Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, has assured that he “will bring back” the rent extension to Congress “until it becomes a reality” and that he is willing to “resume” negotiations with Junts and the PNV to gain their support.
Bustinduy, in an interview on RNE, insisted that Junts’ demands “do not make an agreement unfeasible at all” and that many are “nuances” and “perfectly negotiable” issues. He cited as an example the request for a reduced VAT, which was already the subject of a “pre-agreement” with the Government, as he recalled.
Along the same lines, he expressed confidence that the arguments the PNV used yesterday to abstain from the vote are “also solvable,” if there is “political will.”
In his opinion, the reasons given by all the groups that voted against the rent extension decree law were “untimely” and “none substantive,” which allows “rebuilding the agreement.”
This would involve negotiating several measures, such as tax incentives to encourage landlords to lower prices, regulating seasonal rentals, and restricting speculative housing purchases, he pointed out.
After criticizing the “disconnection between the political class and the anguish of families” which, in his opinion, was seen yesterday in the Congress debate, Bustinduy expressed confidence that “next time” the Ministry of Housing will be more convinced of the “consensus” around this measure and again guaranteed that “all extensions requested with the decree in force are valid and mandatory.”
For his part, the ERC spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, has asked the Government to “constantly” present the housing decree law “until they get tired or people run over them,” while criticizing the lack of involvement of the PSOE, which in his view “has not put in the effort.”
In the corridors of Congress, the pro-independence deputy pointed out that the left “is not there to tell the right how bad it is,” but “is there to help people.” “I think the idea that the right is bad lasts very little. The left has to be there to help people and this has to be presented (the decree) whenever necessary,” he said.
Rufián especially criticized those of Carles Puigdemont, since in his view, with their vote, they “screwed over for particular interests” three million people, including half a million Catalans, so they have been asked to explain it.
