Not corruption. Not even unemployment. Not even healthcare. To no one’s surprise (at least if we consider the CIS), what has turned the Spanish political calendar upside down is the housing crisis. The evacuation of Maricarmen and pressure from those encamped in Madrid forced the government to present two express decrees on housing in early October that, since they did not have the support of Congress, led Pedro Sánchez to advance the election to 29-N. This was not the only move by the executive department. A few weeks ago it approved two new similar decrees (both already published in the BOE) that try to take advantage of the legislature’s final arion.
This includes an important measure for tenants: an extension of the deadline by which landlords must notify them that they will not be renewing their rental contracts.
What happened? The government intends to activate a series of “emergency measures” which, if successful, will bring major changes to the Spanish housing market. He first tried with two express decrees that failed in Congress, which was on Friday, October 2, when he got the vote against the junta (the main reason for its legitimacy, PP and Vox also opposed). And he tried again days later, on the 6th, by approving two decree-laws in the Council of Ministers with “emergency measures” also focused on housing.
What happened in between? Why does the executive believe that this second attempt has more potential than the first? Because Pedro Sánchez had already called an early election that forced the dissolution of the Cortes Generales. In practice, this means that the new decree must be ratified by a permanent deputation to Congress, a body in which the support of the junta is no longer essential.
What does this decree suggest? Just like he did in early October, on the first attempt failureThe government chose to split its proposals into two decrees. Both were published in the BOE on October 7. The first, in Moncler’s language, seeks to “guarantee the social function of housing” through a series of measures designed to “strengthen” its accessibility and “limit speculative practices”. The second focuses on the rental market and aims to “ensure the sustainability of rental contracts for primary residences”, one of the main demands of those camped in Puerta del Sol.
How do you want to do it? Basically, with three measures. The first is an indefinite increase in rent. Once the five-year term of the agreement has expired (seven, if the lessee is a company or companies), it will be “extended for successive terms of the same duration, unless one of the parties notifies the other of their desire” not to do so.
When this happens, the landlord must remember that terminating the contract does not come free. As explained by Moncloa, “A landlord who communicates his desire not to extend the contract must pay the tenant an amount equal to 12 monthly rents for a house with similar properties.” The decree clarifies how the calculation should be made, although it also specifies a series in which compensation will not be applied. For example, if the home owner needs the apartment for a family member.
And the third measure? This is the one that has sparked the most interest. In an effort to guarantee “stability” for families living in rentals, the government wants them to know more in advance when they need to look for a new home. As? Extending the minimum period with which landowners must communicate their decision not to renew their contracts. Till now that period was four months. There will be six if the new royal decree-law goes ahead. This extension is applicable only to Zamindars. Tenants are still required to give their landlords the same advance notice (two months) that they will not be renewing the lease.
“Upon the expiration of the contract or any extension thereof (…), the contract shall be extended for consecutive periods of the same period, unless one party notifies the other of its intention to extend it,” states the rule contained in the BOE. “The landlord’s notice period is increased from four to six months, which allows the tenant to plan his change of residence with sufficient advance notice. The tenant’s notice period is two. Continuity of the contract becomes the rule, and its termination, a clear decision by the landlord that must be made at a specified time and with sufficient notice.”
When will this rule apply? That is the key. The two express decrees that crashed in Congress in early October began with very different options for advancing electoral progress. Although in the end Zants decided to knock them both out, the first evoked more consensus than the second. Now the same thing happens. The first decree approved by the Council of Ministers on the 6th, which seeks to “guarantee the social functioning of housing”, is already in force. With the second, things are different.
Regulations focused on the rental market have also been published in the BOE, but its pages make it clear that they will not take effect until Sunday, November 15, shortly after the official start of the election campaign. The reality is that there is no guarantee that this will be the case. Like the first decree it had to go through a permanent deputation of Congress. Once there, the panorama facing both proposals will be different.
Why is that? Because although the support of the juntas is no longer essential, the government must muster sufficient support to carry out its decrees. Everything indicates that the PNV will support the first ideal on permanent deputation, but the timing of the second will be more complicated. The Basque structure has already announced that it will not support the second rule, which envisages an indefinite extension of rents. Just as he did in his day in the lower house.
If your contrary vote is confirmed, the government will not have the funds to legalize the second decree. This is an important detail because it actually complicates the rule that goes off paper, especially if we consider that in theory the decrees will be voted on in extremis, around November 12, within the deadline available to the Permanent Deputation to give the green light.
Picture | Javier Balseiro (Unsplash) and Erwan Hesri (Unsplash)
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