Eduard Mendiluce, CEO of Anticipa and Aliseda Real Estate, two of the real estate companies of the Blackstone group in Spain, this morning proposed "doing a reset" to stop the rise in occupations in Spain, with the regularization of vulnerable illegal occupants and in good faith, within the framework of a collaboration agreement between the public and private sectors. Simultaneously, in his opinion, a toughening of the criminal code should be approved that is effective and stops new occupations.
In his speech at The District congress, which is being held in Barcelona, the executive pointed out that the Spanish situation is unparalleled in Europe, with 60,000 illegally occupied homes, and even more so in Catalonia, which accounts for 70% of the cases according to the company's own estimates. With the permissiveness before the occupation in his opinion, "the executive is simply transferring to the private sector the cost of housing vulnerable families"
The manager pointed out that the change in the Criminal Procedure Law that the PSOE has proposed in Congress, which provides for evictions of squatters in 48 hours, is a "cynical" proposal since it conditions the eviction of the property to families receiving a flat of social services "that do not have a single empty floor that they can offer them". In his opinion, the proposals made by other parties such as the PP or the PdeCat would be more effective, because they do not include this legal intermediation of social services, and could be complemented by economic aid for the affected families or job placement programs.
Mendiluce framed this "turning the page" in the proposal that Asval, the employers' association of large owners, has presented to the Government, which proposes that the funds contribute to the Executive a bag of 30,000 homes located in stressed areas, with a 25-year rental with a discount of 20% with respect to the value of the area, which would have to be paid by the government.
“Dublin successfully implemented it. And it would be a first step to face the housing emergency, although not the problem of access to housing in Spain, which is much broader” recognized Mendiluce. The employers estimate that the measure would cost around 75 million per year for the Executive, which could even transfer the management of the fund's homes to municipalities and autonomous communities.
Iheb Nafaa, CEO of ServiHabitat, the servicer controlled by the Lone Star fund, also pointed out the funds' discomfort with the new Housing Law promoted by the executive. “It would be necessary for there to be a minimum consensus in Spain, between all the parties, that would give continuity and stability to the regulation, which is something that our investors need”.
Nafaa pointed out that one of the most controversial points of the law, the establishment of maximum rent ceilings "produces the opposite effect to that which is intended, because it reduces supply, as has been seen in Barcelona and in other European cities where has applied”.
For Mendiluce, in addition, establishing a cap on rents paradoxically raises them because all owners want to be at the maximum values. In his opinion, so that the normal functioning of the market would not be hindered, "a good statistical base would have to be created, which would take into account the real situation of each dwelling, its state of conservation, the extra equipment, something that does not happen now ”.
Nafaa, for his part, pointed out that to make housing accessible it is essential to seek public sector agreements with private operators, with various formulas, such as the transfer of public land so that companies can build or manage housing. "Madrid and Barcelona are starting projects of this type, which we believe can be successful."
