The escalation of the main reference index for variable mortgages, the Euribor, will trigger the installments of this type of loan. In order to avoid the consequences that this can have in many households at a time of high inflation, Podemos has proposed establishing a limit on the rise in variable mortgages. The measure, which was sent yesterday to the PSOE, would be applied temporarily to the mortgage loans of vulnerable families if it goes ahead.
Specifically, the formation proposes that banks compulsorily offer their clients the possibility of benefiting from a reduction in the installment of their loans. Thus, for one year the differential of variable-rate mortgages would be 0.10%, without an increase in the repayment term of the credit. The measure would mean a reduction of about 150 euros in fees, according to the calculations of Podemos, willing to negotiate with its coalition partner to include it in the contingency plan decree law.
The formation defends that, despite the reduction, it will be guaranteed that financial entities continue to obtain benefits from said loans. It will also prevent non-performing loans from increasing due to the sudden rise in the Euribor so far this year, since it has gone from a negative rate of -0.5% at the beginning of 2022 to exceeding 2%, which generates an impact substantial in household installments of up to 200 euros more per month, and even in some cases it rises more than 30%.
The proposal is aimed at families experiencing difficulties in meeting their mortgages. And for its application, the thresholds that were set during the pandemic to deploy mortgage and lease moratoriums would be taken as a reference.
The spokesman for United We Can in Congress, Pablo Echenique, has highlighted his total willingness to negotiate this measure with the socialists and that, if there is no agreement, they will register a bill. In turn, he has stated that his coalition partner has thanked them for the proposal and their willingness to discuss this initiative, which he has defined as "balanced" and "sensible" to prevent the economic crisis from turning into a financial one as well.
His comrade in ranks and leader of En Comú Podem, Gerardo Pisarello, has warned that four million families are affected by this rate hike and that it is "essential" to apply a "firewall", through this cap, to protect families and limit the "scandalous enrichment" of the big bank.
This new proposal from Podemos comes after the United Left (IU) announced that it is working on an initiative so that part of the extraordinary tax on electricity companies and banks be used to directly alleviate the increase in the mortgage burden on households, in a progressive and according to the income of each family. The formula that advocates the formation of Alberto Garzón goes through a month-to-month deduction for households in their quotas, based on their income and justified by the situation that has occurred due to the increase in prices.
