The general secretary, Cuca Gamarra, and the vice-secretary of sustainable development of the PP, Paloma Martín, have presented the Housing Plan program, with which the main opposition party intends to overcome the measures approved by the Government to try to solve the endemic problem of access to housing for young Spaniards and the continuous increase in rent prices due to the lack of supply and tourist pressure in many locations in the country.
After meeting “with the entire housing sector in a broad sense,” Gamarra highlighted, the PP has developed its own plan, which contains 16 proposals that aim to facilitate access to affordable rentals for young people, through a program of guarantees for new tenants and tax incentives for owners, the expansion of the available supply with more land at the disposal of developers and the fight against illegal occupation, “one of the great problems of society”, as highlighted by the general secretary of the PP.
In this sense, Gamarra has denounced the “propaganda” that he observes in the Government's Housing law, which he has described as a “mirage”, since, from his point of view, it will not contribute to expanding the supply of rental apartments in the real estate market: “Pedro Sánchez is only concerned about housing when his, the Moncloa, depends on an electoral process,” stated the popular leader, who has assured that in the six years that the PSOE leader has been president the problems of access to housing have been “sharpened.”
For the PP, the Executive's measures "do not work" because they do not start from a "real diagnosis" of the problem, which is summarized, from the opposition's point of view, in "the inability of many Spaniards to be able to access housing." ownership or rental due to lack of supply and the need for greater economic capacity, without forgetting that occupancy detracts housing from the market.”
To combat these aspects of the economic situation, the PP has designed the 16 measures of its plan, which includes as one of its main proposals putting more land on the market, since it considers that the supply is insufficient for the existing demand. To this end, it proposes “more flexibility in legislation, fewer obstacles and less bureaucracy,” as well as guaranteeing legal certainty and allocating public funds to rehabilitation.
Tax incentives deserve a separate chapter, in which the PP proposes guarantees for tenants and insurance to guarantee the collection of rent from landlords. Among other proposals, the plan includes, for example, a 100% deduction in personal income tax for those taxpayers who put properties on the rental market that have been unused for at least two years and that are intended for the habitual residence of young people under the age of 35 years old and with contracts of a minimum of three years.
But beyond promoting rentals, the PP continues to support property, as is traditional in Spain, and that is why it proposes eliminating the inheritance and donation tax when parents, uncles or grandparents transfer money to their relatives for the purchase of a property. first home and, furthermore, that in the case of requesting a mortgage for the purchase of an apartment, young people can request up to 95% of the amount of the property and not only the 80% in force since the burst of the real estate bubble.
Regarding illegal occupation, the PP highlights that it has increased “more than 41%” since Sánchez became president, because, as Gamarra has denounced, “their policies protect the squatter and discourage the owner.” For this reason, the opposition proposes a law that guarantees the eviction of housing within 24 hours and refers to an initiative approved in this regard in the Senate, where the PP has an absolute majority. “The squatter is not protected, he is evicted. Less smoke and more concrete and effective policies: more housing on the market and greater economic support,” the popular leader concluded.
For her part, the deputy secretary of sustainable development of the PP, Paloma Martín, has stated that the price control of the law promoted by the Government has attracted the "unanimous rejection" of the autonomous communities, including those in which the PSOE governs, Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias and Navarra. “The stressed areas are an absolute failure. “Price control only causes a contraction of supply,” she argued.
