Spain’s Minister for Social Rights Pablo Bustinduy is calling for a tax on the accumulation of homes that are not rented at affordable rates. Under the proposal from his electoral alliance, it would apply to private individuals Frente Amplio from their fourth home onwards. The aim, he said, is to bring more housing onto the affordable rental market rental market, Bustinduy said in an interview published on 13 November by the newspaper 20minutos.
The minister is also Frente Amplio’s campaign spokesperson. The alliance has made housing policy a central issue for the Spanish Parliamentary election on 29 November. Bustinduy argues that the right to housing must take precedence over speculation in multiple properties. His proposal describes a tax, not a ban already in force on owning more than three homes.
According to the news agency EFE, the lead candidate Ada Colau had already presented the tax proposal on 5 November. Under the proposal, the levy would apply to private individuals from their fourth home and to companies from their first, provided the total value of the homes exceeds €800,000. In the interview, Bustinduy says the tax would apply on condition that the homes are not rented at affordable rates. A specific draft bill would need to clarify how the various conditions would work together.
Bustinduy cites vacant homes, as well as properties illegally used as holiday lets or rented out on a temporary basis, as stock that could be brought onto the rental market. If 1.3 million homes were mobilised for affordable rental, he expects an immediate impact. This figure is a political target; his statement does not mean that the tax would actually make that many homes available.
The debate coincides with a parliamentary decision on existing rental rules. On 12 November, the Standing Committee of the Congress of Deputies approved a package of measures that includes a time-limited extension of tenancy agreements By contrast, the body rejected a second decree providing for their indefinite automatic extension.
Bustinduy describes the measures taken so far as minimum steps. He argues that a more far-reaching response to the housing crisis requires stronger regulation of the market. The proposed tax is still an election campaign demand, not an adopted measure.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).