AWARD YEAR
2023
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
No Poverty, Reduced Inequality, Sustainable Cities & Communities, Ethical Leadership
KEYWORDS
Social housing, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, welfare
COUNTRY
Spain
DESIGNED BY
The Council of Ministers, Spain
WEBSITE
https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/councilministers/Paginas/2022/20220201_council.aspx
Law on the Right to Housing
The design is a law on the right to housing in Spain
How does it work?
One of the most important measures concerns the public social housing stock. The stock is subject to permanent protection so that it cannot be alienated, as happened in the past. For her part, Belarra, the Minister for Social Rights and 2030 Agenda, said that she valued the imposition of a compulsory reserve of 30% of any development for subsidised housing and that of this 30%, 15% must go to social renting, so that a public housing stock can gradually be built up, in line with the European countries. In France, by way of example, there is seven times more social housing than in Spain, and in the Netherlands there is twelve times more.
The law also protects tenants, who are the weakest part of the equation, makes it easy for small landlords and at the same time demands the necessary co-responsibility from large landlords in guaranteeing the right to housing.
Why is it needed?
This first housing law coming into force during democracy in Spain allow the country to begin to put the real estate sector in order and leave behind real estate bubbles, speculation and urban development corruption scandals.
Belarra, the Minister for Social Rights and 2030 Agenda, recalled that the 2008 financial crisis led to thousands of evictions, that abusive mortgage clauses led many families into debt and that the subsequent bubble in the rental market caused rental prices to rise by 50% between 2015 and 2020. This situation has benefited investment funds and large landowners, while it has compromised the economy of a large majority of families who have to spend a large part of their income on rent or mortgages.
How does it improve life?
The law is essential because the market has proved ineffective in responding to the needs of groups with great access difficulties, such as young people, whose ability to emancipate themselves has been limited: "The public authorities must guarantee the right to housing and prevent speculation". Sánchez, the Minister for Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, has maintained that "the law is not against owners but against speculation", protecting their rights and recognising their obligations.